Kyle Larson Earns His First Career Daytona 500 Pole
The front row for the 64th Daytona 500 is set, with Kyle Larson earning pole position for the Great American Race. Larson’s Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman will join him up front for the start of Sunday’s race. Front row starters have won 16 of the 63 (25.4%) Daytona 500 races.
All 42 cars entered this year took to the track on Wednesday night with the goal of earning one of the top two positions to solidify their spot in the race. There were 10 drivers that advanced to the second round of qualifying, in hopes of earning a front-row spot.
It was Larson and Bowman that were able to edge out William Byron, Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, and Harrison Burton. on Wednesday night.
This is the first Daytona 500 pole for Larson, and the 15th for Hendrick Motorsports. In the first round of qualifying, the four Hendrick cars were the fastest. The team has won 7 of the last 8 Daytona 500 poles and has now swept the front row eight times.
“It’s the biggest race in our sport so I want to win it and I get excited to come down here, spend the week, get to go to Disney, run sprint cars and compete in the biggest race of our year,” said Larson. “I’ve chased races more than championships, so the priority of winning big races hasn’t changed at all because it’s more in front of you than the championship is really.”
“I haven’t had much success here so that part of it doesn’t get me too excited," Larson continued. "I was close to winning in 2017. I crossed the line coming to the white as the leader then ran out of fuel. That was a really cool. I just remember the emotions of that, I was like, ‘wow,’ I could win the Daytona 500. And not winning it fuels me to want to win it in my future. Before that race and every race since I have been not even close. I would love to do it."
Bowman has now qualified on the front row for the fifth year in a row, extending his own Daytona 500 record. His 7.0 average starting position in his six starts is the best among all active drivers and third on the All-Time list behind Dale Earnhardt Jr (5.7), Cotton Owens (5.8), and Paul Goldsmith (6.9).
The starting lineup for the remaining 38 positions will all be determined tomorrow with the two Duel races.
The finishers from the first Duel will line up on the inside row in order of their finish. The second Duel results will set the lineup for drivers on the outside row. The fastest open team in each Duel race will qualify into the Daytona 500 field, while the two open teams with the fastest times from single-car qualifying that didn’t qualify through the duels will fill the last two spots in the 40-car field.
Drivers that finish inside the top ten in each Duel race will receive points toward the regular-season championship. The winner will receive 10 points, the runner-up nine, and so on until the 10th-place finisher receives one point.
Six open cars are entered, and two of them were able to lock up a spot in qualifying. Noah Gragson and Jacques Villeneuve both qualified on time and will be in the race on Sunday. The Canadian is trying to add a Daytona 500 crown to his impressive resume, which includes the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1997 Formula One World Championship. Two drivers will be going home after the two Duel races tomorrow, missing out on the iconic race.
There have now been 45 different drivers that have earned a Daytona 500 pole. The only two active drivers with multiple poles are Bowman and Elliott, who each have two. Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Byron, Austin Dillon, Truex Jr, and Larson are the only other active drivers with one.
Starting on pole in the Daytona 500 has not panned out in recent years. Last year Bowman finished 35th after starting first. The average finishing position for the pole sitter over the last seven years is just 25th. The last time a driver started from pole position and finished inside the top ten in the Daytona 500 was Dillon back in 2014 when he finished 9th.
The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from pole was Dale Jarrett, 22 years ago. It has only happened a total of nine times in the 63 races. Larson will try to add to that list on Sunday.
Following tomorrow night's Duel races, the only on-track action before Sunday's race will be a practice session on Friday night and another one on Saturday morning. Sunday’s television coverage for the Daytona 500 begins at 2:30 PM ET on FOX.
