Team Penske's Joey Logano and Ford's new "Dark Horse" Mustang put an end to Chevrolet's Daytona 500 front row dominance by claiming the pole position for Sunday's Daytona 500. While Logano and his team celebrated Ford's first Daytona 500 pole position since 2012, 7-time NASCAR champion, Jimmie Johnson, failed to make "The Great American Race" on speed and must race his way into the Daytona 500 in one of tonight's 150-mile qualifying races.
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Logano won the pole with an average speed of 181.947 mph. While it is Logano's 29th pole position in his career, it is the first for him in the Daytona 500. Improbably, it is also the first Daytona 500 pole for Team Penske.
"This is all about the team. Obviously, I'd like to take credit but I can't today," Logano said. "The guys have done such an amazing job working on these cars. The superspeedway qualifying is 100-percent the car - there's only so much the driver can do. It's a big win for our team, Team Penske, and Ford with the Dark Horse Mustang, being able to come down here and put it on the pin. Finally, someone else wins the pole. I've never even been close to a superspeedway pole before. It couldn't come at a cooler event."
Front Row Motorsports' Michael McDowell clinched a front row sweep for the Blue Oval with an average speed of 181.686. McDowell won the 2021 Daytona 500.
Only Logano's and McDowell's starting positions are locked in for the 500. The rest of the field will be determined in the two 150-mile qualifying races tonight.
Of the 42 entries for this year's 500, only the 36 cars with a NASCAR charter are guaranteed to start the event. Two of the six "open" entries — those driven by David Ragan and Anthony Alfredo — locked in positions for Sunday's race. The other four cars must race their way into the 500. The drivers for those four cars are: J.J. Yeley, Kaz Grala, B.J. McLeod and Jimmie Johnson, who qualified 35th — the third fastest time of the six open entries.
"I had higher expectations for sure, but we are lumped right there with the other Toyotas," Johnson said. "The No. 43 (Erik Jones) car got a little more out of it, so I wish we had a bit more out of ours, but it is what it is. We will go out and race hard [tonight] and try to make the 500."
