Larson, Bowman on front row for Daytona 500

Chevrolet admittedly did not have much to write home about during Tuesday's first two practice sessions for Sunday's 64th Daytona 500, as Ford dominated both sessions.

But when it really mattered, Chevrolet delivered during Wednesday night's front row qualifying for the Great American Race.

Defending NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson won the pole with a speed of 181.159 mph, while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman will start Sunday's race next to him on the front row, qualifying with a speed of 181.046 mph.

“Anytime you are really proud of your team to get a pole here because this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers; qualifying at superspeedways,” Larson said. “Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports.

"Everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles; whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands on. It’s really neat; just awesome the speed in our HendrickCars.com Chevy. Hopefully this is the beginning of a really good weekend.”

The front row feat puts Bowman’s name in the NASCAR history books as the only driver in the series’ history to sit on the Daytona 500 front row for five consecutive seasons (2018-2022). The Bowtie Brand has now swept the Daytona 500 front row 20 times in the event’s history, including 10 of the past 12 years.

“It just says so much about Hendrick Motorsports and all these guys," Bowman said. "Congrats to the 5 on getting the pole. It’s cool to have the record, but I feel like Greg Ives (Crew Chief) and my race team should be the ones that get the credit for that record.

"The driver doesn’t really have much to do with it, but glad I didn’t mess it up for them and really happy for Ally and Chevrolet. Cool to be a part of it.”