Lights go out, Alex Bowman turns out in Daytona 500 qualifying to win pole

Alex Bowman is pretty good at qualifying for the Daytona 500. For the fourth consecutive year, he will begin the NASCAR Cup Series season on the front row for the 500, but will particularly do so from the pole position for the second time.

Bowman, who won the pole in 2018, repeated the feat in Wednesday night’s qualifying session with a dominating single-car run in which he went 191.261 mph, over a mile faster than second-placed Hendrick Motorsports team-mate William Byron. Hendrick and Chevrolet have dominated 500 qualifying for much of the last decade, with a Chevy driver winning the pole every year since 2013 and a Hendrick driver specifically in six of the last seven years. The exception to the latter was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Hendrick ally JTG Daugherty Racing in 2020. During the first practice session of Speedweeks earlier in the day, the four Hendrick drivers opted to perform single-car runs emulating the qualifying format instead of drafting like other teams, which resulted in the quartet being mired in the twenties but provided additional preparation for qualifying.

“I think for us, we’ve started up there together before so I feel like for us, we can rely on that experience, especially being teammates with Alex for the last three years,” Byron commented in his post-qualifying press conference. He is no stranger to winning at Daytona, having won the fall race last season for his maiden Cup victory. “It’s really been comfortable to work with him.

“I feel like that’s the goal, is to stay up there and contend and lead a bunch of laps and control the lanes; that’s our goal first and foremost. But you’ve got to get to the end as well, and if you get yourself in tough positions, you just have to realise that it’s better to try to rally back at the end of the race and not tear something up.”

The pole is the #48 car’s first in the 500 since Jimmie Johnson in 2008; Bowman took over the famed #48 for 2021 after Johnson’s retirement. Byron, the 2019 pole winner, took the fastest time from Bubba Wallace and staved off a charge from Aric Almirola before being surpassed by his team-mate. Almirola and Wallace, the latter of whom led the first practice session, respectively qualified third and fourth.

“It’s pretty incredible, right? I’m so appreciative and blessed with this opportunity,” Bowman said in his conference. “I think for me, it’s really hard to sit here and be like, ‘Yeah, I did it and I did this and that,’ and that’s why we’re on the pole for four consecutive years or on the front row for four consecutive years.

“It’s much more about Hendrick Motorsports and the #48 team, (crew chief) Greg Ives, the engine shop, the chassis shop, body shop, Chevrolet, everybody at Ally for all their support. It’s more about the people that make it happen.”

While Wallace and his new 23XI Racing team were the talk of the show, fellow series newcomer Trackhouse Racing Team also enjoyed qualifying success as Daniel Suárez was tenth. Trackhouse co-owner Justin Marks tweeted, “Lots of work ahead this week but couldn’t be more pleased!”

Ryan Preece and David Ragan were the two fastest cars among the eight non-chartered teams, enabling them to clinch spots in the 500. Preece, who plans to run the full schedule but his #37 JTG team lost its charter, was the eighth-fastest overall. Ragan and his #36 Front Row Motorsports machine was thirteenth and will race in the 500 for the second year since his retirement from full-time competition.

With Preece and Ragan locking themselves in on time, the other six open drivers—Austin Cindric, Kaz Grala, Ty Dillon, Garrett Smithley, Timmy Hill, and Noah Gragson—will have to step up in Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel. Gragson faces an uphill battle as he will start from the rear; his #62 Beard Motorsports car failed pre-qualifying technical inspection thrice, disqualifying him from setting a qualifying time.

Derrike Cope, preparing for his final race as a NASCAR driver, also did not set a time due to a battery issue. However, the 1990 Daytona 500 winner is guaranteed a slot in the race via charter.

Qualifying was delayed for fifteen minutes when the speedway’s infield lights abruptly went out due to a power grid outage in Daytona Beach. While no cars took the track as a result, a hypothetical darkness-filled session would not be a first for Daytona or Speedweeks; in 2011, final practice for the now-Busch Clash was briefly held in the dark when the lighting on parts of the speedway shut off.

The Bluegreen Vacations Duel is set for Thursday night. Bowman and Byron will start on the pole for each race, and their finish in their respective Duel does not impact their front-row starting positions for the 500.

Qualifying results

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Best Time	Best Speed (mph)
1	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	47.056	191.261
2	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	47.314	190.219
3	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	47.324	190.178
4	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	47.474	189.577
5	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	47.477	189.565
6	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	47.489	189.518
7	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	47.573	189.183
8	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	47.585	189.135
9	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	47.631	188.953
10	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	47.636	188.933
11	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	47.695	188.699
12	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	47.695	188.699
13	36	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	47.730	188.561
14	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	47.742	188.513
15	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	47.752	188.474
16	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	47.780	188.363
17	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	47.881	187.966
18	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	47.895	187.911
19	33	Austin Cindric*	Team Penske	Ford	47.900	187.891
20	16	Kaz Grala	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	47.925	187.793
21	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	47.943	187.723
22	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	47.956	187.672
23	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	47.960	187.656
24	42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	47.972	187.609
25	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	48.060	187.266
26	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	48.072	187.219
27	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	48.124	187.017
28	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	48.165	186.858
29	43	Erik Jones	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	48.189	186.765
30	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	48.269	186.455
31	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	48.347	186.154
32	38	Anthony Alfredo	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	48.422	185.866
33	96	Ty Dillon*	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	48.446	185.774
34	77	Jamie McMurray	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	48.746	184.631
35	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	48.767	184.551
36	00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	49.571	181.558
37	13	Garrett Smithley*	MBM Motorsports	Ford	49.880	180.433
38	78	B.J. McLeod*	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	49.985	180.054
39	66	Timmy Hill*	MBM Motorsports	Ford	50.016	179.942
40	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	50.074	179.734
41	53	Joey Gase	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	50.630	177.76
42	52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	50.926	176.727
43	15	Derrike Cope	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	No Time	No Time
44	62	Noah Gragson*	Beard Motorsports	Chevrolet	No Time	No Time