Joey Logano charges to Daytona 500 pole
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Joey Logano gave Ford its first Daytona 500 pole in more than a decade Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway.
He will be joined on the front row by fellow Ford driver Michael McDowell.
Ford’s last Daytona 500 pole was 2012. Carl Edwards took the top spot in qualifying and was joined on the front row by teammate Greg Biffle.
This is Logano’s first Daytona 500 and McDowell’s first Daytona 500 front row start. It comes in the first qualifying event for the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which is making its debut this season.
Thursday’s qualifying only locked in the Daytona 500 front row and two of the six non-chartered cars.
Anthony Alfredo and David Ragan each secured starting spots for non-chartered cars.
The starting lineup will be set by Thursday’s two qualifying races.
This is only the second time in the last 10 years a Hendrick Motorsports car did not win the pole.
Alex Bowman’s record stretch of six consecutive front row starting spots for the Daytona 500 ended Wednesday. He was 17th in qualifying and the only Hendrick Motorsports car not to advance to advance to the final round of qualifying.
Two-time Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson, a co-owner of Legacy Motor Club, will have to earn a starting spot via Thursday night’s qualifying races since he was not faster than Alfredo or Ragan.
Alfredo is driving for Beard Motorsports, which has one full-time employee. Ragan is driving a third car for RFK Racing. This will be Alfredo’s second Daytona 500 start and Ragan’s 17th Daytona 500.
“Initially I thought, ‘Man, we're cutting this way too close,’” Ragan said. “I felt like we'd have a really fast race car, and we do. I really wasn't expecting that lap from Anthony. That was a great lap for him and that team. Congratulations to those guys.”
