Bowman On Record Sixth Daytona Front Row

(DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEB 15, 2023 – RIS) Alex Bowman extended his string of front-row starts in the Daytona 500 to six straight, setting a new record with his third pole for the race. Bowman’s laps in both sessions were at the top of the list, with round two some 0.181 second quicker and 0.661 mph faster over a single lap of Daytona’s 2.5 mile track. Starting beside Bowman in Sunday’s race will be fellow Hendrick racer Kyle Larson, with William Byron clocking the third fastest time to give Hendrick the top qualifying times. Only the front row is determined by Wednesday’s times, with the rest of the field determined by the outcome of the two duels.

Jimmie Johnson marked his return to NASCAR Cup competition by locking in a spot for the duels, with a lap of 50.202 sec.

Chandler Smith could not complete his qualifying lap and must race his way into the field for Sunday’s race, along with Conor Daly, whose car could not be repaired in time to qualify after a short circuit in the oil heater system caused an oil line to burst. Smith and Daly can still earn spots for

Travis Pastrana, in his first-ever attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500, stopped the timer at 50.208 sec and 179.254 mph, earning a spot in the duels and the 500. “I just can’t say enough about this 23XI team,” Pastrana said. “I mean everyone from Kurt Busch to Denny Hamlin to Bubba (Wallace) and Tyler (Reddick), they all just helped me get there. And this TRD motor and being able to get on the sim, that was everything. Can’t give them enough credit for this opportunity.

“We’ll party Sunday night. But this is a huge weight off my shoulders. I begged, bartered and did everything but stealing from everyone to be here. So many great people with Black Rifle Coffee and Dixon Flannels. I knew we could make it and I knew we could do it with this team. Michael (Jordan) wants to win and Denny (Hamlin) wants to win.”

Conor Daly’s car was unable to run the qualifying session after the oil heater in the car shorted and burned out an oil line, The crew was unable to make repairs to the No. 50 Chevy so the Indy Car str will have to race his way into the Daytona 500.

First out Chandler Smith’s car failed to make a lap in qualifying, Ricky Stenhouse Jr came next, to be eclipsed by Brad Keselowski’s time. Ryan Preece pipped Keselowski by five hundredths of a second, and Harrison Burton clipped another few thousandths off the night’s first sub-fifty-second lap.

Of the drivers who had to qualify into the field, seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana both managed to set times that lock them into Sunday’s race, Johnson with a 50.202 sec/179.276 mph lap and Pastrana lapping just six thousandths of a second behind Johnson. The time ensured Pastrana his first-ever Daytona 500 start.

Qualifying Results: DAYTONA 500, Daytona International Speedway

Round 1
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, -Fastest, -Next
1) Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 49.717 sec, 181.025 mph,  -----, -----
2) Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 49.869, 180.473, 0.152 sec, 0.152 sec
3) Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 49.870, 180.469, 0.153, 0.001
4) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 49.881, 180.429, 0.164, 0.011
5) Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 49.903, 180.350, 0.186, 0.022
6) Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet, 49.920, 180.288, 0.203, 0.017
7) William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 49.926, 180.267, 0.209, 0.006
8) Austin Cindric, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 49.927, 180.263, 0.210, 0.001
9) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Blue DEF/PEAK Ford, 49.965, 180.126, 0.248, 0.038
10) Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford, 49.996, 180.014, 0.279, 0.031
11) Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 49.997, 180.011, 0.280, 0.001
12) Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 50.022, 179.921, 0.305, 0.025
13) Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 50.031, 179.888, 0.314, 0.009
14) Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 50.033, 179.881, 0.316, 0.002
15) Ross Chastain, No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet, 50.038, 179.863, 0.321, 0.005
16) Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 50.042, 179.849, 0.325, 0.004
17) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Ford, 50.088, 179.684, 0.371, 0.046
18) Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Nexlizet Ford, 50.091, 179.673, 0.374, 0.003
19) Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy/Interstate Batteries Toyota, 50.107, 179.616, 0.390, 0.016
20) Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota, 50.108, 179.612, 0.391, 0.001
21) Christopher Bell, No. 20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota, 50.140, 179.497, 0.423, 0.032
22) Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 50.182, 179.347, 0.465, 0.042
23) Jimmie Johnson*, No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet, 50.202, 179.276, 0.485, 0.020
24) Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 50.205, 179.265, 0.488, 0.003
25) Travis Pastrana*, No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota, 50.208, 179.254, 0.491, 0.003
26) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx 50 Toyota, 50.236, 179.154, 0.519, 0.028
27) Erik Jones, No. 43 GUNS N' ROSES Chevrolet, 50.280, 178.998, 0.563, 0.044
28) Noah Gragson #, No. 42 Wendy's Chevrolet, 50.296, 178.941, 0.579, 0.016
29) Zane Smith*(i), No. 36 Wellcare Ford, 50.318, 178.862, 0.601, 0.022
30) AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 50.332, 178.813, 0.615, 0.014
31) Justin Haley, No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, 50.346, 178.763, 0.629, 0.014
32) Austin Hill*(i), No. 62 Bennett Transportation/Beard Chevrolet, 50.375, 178.660, 0.658, 0.029
33) Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet, 50.413, 178.525, 0.696, 0.038
34) Todd Gilliland, No. 38 gener8tor Skills Ford, 50.504, 178.204, 0.787, 0.091
35) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet, 50.583, 177.925, 0.866, 0.079
36) BJ McLeod, No. 78 Power Slap Rumble Chevrolet, 50.609, 177.834, 0.892, 0.026
37) Cody Ware, No. 51 Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford, 50.799, 177.169, 1.082, 0.190
38) Riley Herbst(i), No. 15 SunnyD Ford, 50.891, 176.849, 1.174, 0.092
39) Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Chevrolet, 51.045, 176.315, 1.328, 0.154
40) Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Celsius Chevrolet, 51.053, 176.287, 1.336, 0.008
41) Chandler Smith*(i), No. 13 Quick Tie Inc. Chevrolet, 51.422, 175.022, 1.705, 0.369
42) Conor Daly*(i), No. 50 BitNile.com Chevrolet, -----, -----, -----, -----

Round 2
Pos, Driver, Car, Time, Speed, Lap #, # Laps, -Fastest, -Next
1) Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 49.536, 181.686, 1, 1, 0.000, 0.000
2) Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 49.708, 181.057, 1, 1, 0.172, 0.172
3) William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 49.799, 180.727, 1, 1, 0.263, 0.091
4) Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 49.800, 180.723, 1, 1, 0.264, 0.001
5) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 49.803, 180.712, 1, 1, 0.267, 0.003
6) Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 49.817, 180.661, 1, 1, 0.281, 0.014
7) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Blue DEF/PEAK Ford, 49.985, 180.054, 1, 1, 0.449, 0.168
8) Austin Cindric, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 49.996, 180.014, 1, 1, 0.460, 0.011
9) Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford, 50.070, 179.748, 1, 1, 0.534, 0.074
10) Kyle Busch, No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet, 0.000, 0.000, 0, 0, -----, -----

Track Qualifying Record: Bill Elliott, 02/15/87, 42.783 sec, 210.364 mph