Joey Logano, Michael McDowell sit on 2024 Daytona 500 front row, breaking Hendrick's streak
The front row for the 2024 Daytona 500 is set.
Two former Daytona 500 winners will share the front row, and Hendrick Motorsports won’t have a car start in the top two for the first time since 2014. Joey Logano is the first non-Chevrolet driver to win the pole since 2012, when Carl Edwards won the award.
The 2015 Daytona 500 winner Logano beat Michael McDowell for the top spot by 0.071 seconds, taking the pole position after he also set the pace in Round 1.
However, Logano and McDowell won’t be the only drivers celebrating. Both Anthony Alfredo and former Daytona winner David Ragan were the two open cars to lock themselves into the race on speed, ensuring they’ll take the green flag on Sunday and get to have a stress-free evening during the duel races.
Seven-time Cup Series champion and two-time Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson wasn’t so fortunate. He will have to race his way into Sunday’s event via the duels, as will fellow open drivers BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley and Kaz Grala, who was unable to make a lap due to his car being stuck in second gear.
The biggest surprise of the evening by far was defending pole winner Alex Bowman missing the second round of qualifying entirely, putting down a lap that placed him only 13th on the grid for Sunday’s Daytona 500. He was the only Hendrick Motorsports car to miss the second round. Toyota also lacked speed, with no Toyota drivers advancing to the second round of qualifying.
Logano and McDowell will lead the field to green on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Fox, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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