NASCAR qualifying results: Alex Bowman on the pole for the Daytona 500
Alex Bowman will start on the pole for the Daytona 500, extending his streak of front row starts in the Great American Race. He posted the fastest speed during Wednesday’s single-lap qualifying session to determine to front row, beating out Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron for the top spot with a speed of 191.261 mph.
Byron’s speed was 190.219 mph. Bowman, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet formerly driven by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, will be the first driver to start on the front row in the Daytona 500 for four consecutive seasons thanks to his quick lap.
“Here it really just comes down to who built the fastest race car,” Bowman said. “And I think it’s important for Hendrick Motorsports to come up and prove that they’re the ones that did that.”
Hendrick Motorsports has won 14 Daytona 500 poles, the series most, and has won the pole in six of the past seven years. Bowman’s No. 48 crew chief Greg Ives said there was a big emphasis to get that starting spot, not only for the pride, but for practical reasons ahead of the Daytona 500.
“You have your starting spot, you understand where your pit stall is going to be, you can kind of perfect and get a calm and understanding of where you have to get in the box, get out, and maybe that tenth of a mile per hour better down pit road is going to help you come out first,” Ives said.
Ryan Preece (189.135) and David Ragan (188.561) were the two Open drivers with the best lap times and locked in their positions in the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 14.
NASCAR Cup qualifying results
| Order | Driver | Car No. | Best Time | Best Speed |
| 1 | Alex Bowman | 48 | 47.056 | 191.261 |
| 2 | William Byron | 24 | 47.314 | 190.219 |
| 3 | Aric Almirola | 10 | 47.324 | 190.178 |
| 4 | Bubba Wallace | 23 | 47.474 | 189.577 |
| 5 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47 | 47.477 | 189.565 |
| 6 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | 47.489 | 189.518 |
| 7 | Christopher Bell | 20 | 47.573 | 189.183 |
| 8 | * Ryan Preece | *37 | 47.585 | 189.135 |
| 9 | Austin Dillon | 3 | 47.631 | 188.953 |
| 10 | Daniel Suárez | 99 | 47.636 | 188.933 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | 11 | 47.695 | 188.699 |
| 12 | Chase Elliott | 9 | 47.695 | 188.699 |
| 13 | * David Ragan | *36 | 47.73 | 188.561 |
| 14 | Kurt Busch | 1 | 47.742 | 188.513 |
| 15 | Kyle Larson | 5 | 47.752 | 188.474 |
| 16 | Kyle Busch | 18 | 47.78 | 188.363 |
| 17 | Matt DiBenedetto | 21 | 47.881 | 187.966 |
| 18 | Ryan Blaney | 12 | 47.895 | 187.911 |
| 19 | * Austin Cindric(i) | *33 | 47.9 | 187.891 |
| 20 | * Kaz Grala | *16 | 47.925 | 187.793 |
| 21 | Joey Logano | 22 | 47.943 | 187.723 |
| 22 | Chase Briscoe | 14 | 47.956 | 187.672 |
| 23 | Ryan Newman | 6 | 47.96 | 187.656 |
| 24 | Ross Chastain | 42 | 47.972 | 187.609 |
| 25 | Cole Custer | 41 | 48.06 | 187.266 |
| 26 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | 187.266 | 187.219 |
| 27 | Michael McDowell | 34 | 48.124 | 187.017 |
| 28 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 | 48.165 | 186.858 |
| 29 | Erik Jones | 43 | 48.189 | 186.765 |
| 30 | Chris Buescher | 17 | 48.269 | 186.455 |
| 31 | Tyler Reddick | 8 | 48.347 | 186.154 |
| 32 | Anthony Alfredo # | 38 | 48.422 | 185.866 |
| 33 | * Ty Dillon(i) | *96 | 48.446 | 185.774 |
| 34 | Jamie McMurray | 77 | 48.746 | 184.631 |
| 35 | Corey LaJoie | 7 | 48.767 | 184.551 |
| 36 | Quin Houff | 0 | 49.571 | 181.558 |
| 37 | * Garrett Smithley(i) | *13 | 49.88 | 180.433 |
| 38 | BJ McLeod(i) | 78 | 49.985 | 180.054 |
| 39 | * Timmy Hill(i) | *66 | 50.016 | 179.942 |
| 40 | Cody Ware | 51 | 50.074 | 179.734 |
| 41 | Joey Gase | 53 | 50.63 | 177.76 |
| 42 | Josh Bilicki | 52 | 50.926 | 176.727 |
| 43 | Derrike Cope | 15 | DNQ | |
| 44 | * Noah Gragson(i) | *62 | DNQ |
*Required to qualify on time, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 9:06 PM.
