Alex Bowman is starting on the front row for the Daytona 500. Again.
Bowman scored his second Daytona 500 pole and his fourth consecutive front row start Wednesday night during qualifying. He’ll start alongside teammate William Byron in Sunday’s Great American Race.
The two drivers continue Hendrick Motorsports’ recent run of success in Daytona 500 qualifying. Bowman started next to Byron on the front row of the 2019 Daytona 500 and it’s the seventh consecutive time Hendrick has had at least one car on the front row for the 500.
That front row success, however, has not translated into Daytona 500 wins. A Hendrick driver last won the Daytona 500 in 2014 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag. That was the last year a Hendrick car hasn’t started on the front row.
Every other starting spot in the Daytona 500 is still up for grabs after Wednesday night’s qualifying session. There are 44 cars racing for 40 spots and 36 cars have guaranteed entries into the field. Among the eight drivers racing for four starting spots, David Ragan and Ryan Preece were the two fastest on Wednesday. They are guaranteed to start Sunday’s race based on their speeds.
That means Austin Cindric, Kaz Grala, Timmy Hill, Ty Dillon, Garrett Smithley, and Noah Gragson are racing for the two remaining spots in the 500. Three of them will be in each of the Duel qualifying races on Thursday night.
Bowman will start first in the first Duel race (7 p.m. ET, FS1) Thursday night and Byron will start first in the second Duel. The first Duel will set positions Nos. 3-39 in Sunday’s race and the second Duel will set positions Nos. 4-40.
Alex Bowman will start first in Sunday’s Daytona 500. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Qualifying results
1. Alex Bowman
2. William Byron
3. Aric Almirola
4. Bubba Wallace
5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Christopher Bell
8. Ryan Preece
9. Austin Dillon
10. Daniel Suarez
11. Chase Elliott
12. Denny Hamlin
13. David Ragan
14. Kurt Busch
15. Kyle Larson
16. Kyle Busch
17. Matt DiBenedetto
18. Ryan Blaney
19. Austin Cindric
20. Kaz Grala
21. Joey Logano
22. Chase Briscoe
23. Ryan Newman
24. Ross Chastain
25. Cole Custer
26. Brad Keselowski
27. Michael McDowell
28. Martin Truex Jr.
29. Erik Jones
30. Chris Buescher
31. Tyler Reddick
32. Anthony Alfredo
33. Ty Dillon
34. Jamie McMurray
35. Corey LaJoie
36. Quin Houff
37. Garrett Smithley
38. BJ McLeod
39. Timmy Hill
40. Cody Ware
41. Joey Gase
42. Josh Bilicki
43. Derrike Cope
44. Noah Gragson
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