DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA (AP) – Hendrick Motorsports swept the front row in qualifying for the Daytona 500 for the 14th time and sixth time in the last seven years.
Alex Bowman set a lap time of 191.261 mph at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday night to earn the top starting spot for the second time in his career. Bowman will start from the front row for the fourth year in a row.
“It doesn’t really have a lot to do with me — it’s a testament to these guys and everybody back at the shop at Hendrick Motorsports,” Bowman said. “They work so hard on these superspeedway cars. They’re beautiful when they get to the race track.”
With a lap of 190.219 mph, William Byron completed the Hendrick sweep. Only the first row was determined Wednesday night, marking the first time in the Daytona 500’s history that qualifying was held at night as part of a condensed Speedweeks schedule.
Chevrolet has taken the pole for the ninth time in a row.
Time trials and two Thursday night qualifying races select the 40-car field. NASCAR has sold 36 charters, which guarantee the owners a berth in the field, leaving eight drivers competing for four “open” spots in the stock-car racing Super Bowl.
In Wednesday night time trials, however, two spots are reserved for the fastest “open” cars. The two berths went to David Ragan and Ryan Preece.
Ryan Preece Shirt 2017 Racing Clothes Nascar
Last year, Preece had a charter with JTG-Daugherty Racing, but the team no longer owns the rights, and there’s danger the car won’t try to compete in every race if it doesn’t start well.
Preece stated he wasn’t scared before his lap, but panicked when the qualifying session was delayed due to a power issue and he realized he was wearing the wrong firesuit. Preece stated he ran a half-mile to change his firesuit before his qualifying lap.
Derrike Cope, the 1990 Daytona 500 winner and the field’s oldest driver at 62, was unable to start his car and could not complete a qualifying lap. His car, on the other hand, is locked into the race because it has a charter.
The No. 62 failed pre-qualifying inspection three times, was denied a qualifying lap, and a crew member was lost.
Noah Gragson also did not make a qualifying lap because his car failed pre-race inspection. Beard Motorsports has to forfeit a team member as penalty but Gragson can race Thursday night and attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500.
The uniforms of NASCAR racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price:
