Yesterday, Carl Edwards won the pole qualifier for the Daytona 500 and he did it in a big way. He had a lap of 194.738 miles per hour on the 2.5 miles oval. It’s the fastest pole speed since 1999 when Jeff Gordon put up his 195.067 miles per hour.
Edwards said afterwards that this is the second pole he’s won in a row, so he feels like he’s in good shape as far as picking up where the last season left off. Edwards lost to Trevor Bayne last year in the Daytona 500 and he also missed the Cup championship by only one point. Tony Stewart took the Cup last year. Edwards said he heard a lot of questions from reporters about how it felt to narrowly miss the Cup championship last year. He said that it’s good to come out and show how hard Roush-Fenway Racing has been working in preparation for this NASCAR season.
Jack Roush, one of the team’s owners, said that his engine shop did a great job getting ready for this season, as did the people in the body and chassis shop. He also said that this is just the beginning of what he hopes will be a winning season.
Since 1985, this is the seventh time that Ford drivers have taken the front row. The other drivers that grabbed a starting spot were David Stemme, Tony Raines, and Trevor Bayne. On Thursday, there will be two 150 mile heats that will set the starting positions for Nos. 3-35. Clint Bowyer’s car didn’t pass inspection. His penalty will be a last place start in Thursday’s qualifier. He’s now driving for Michael Waltrip Racing. Danica Patrick had the 29th fastest time at 191.738. She was already guaranteed a starting spot because of the points the No.10 car racked up last season.
