Meet the Daytona 500 Front Row

What’s the difference between 191.188 mph and 190.913 mph? Mark Martin’s top speed earned him the pole for the Daytona 500, bumping his Hendrick teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. to second.

photo credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

“This is such a great accomplishment for the 5 and 88 teams,” Martin said. “That was not an accomplishment of mine. It is one of all our guys on this team. To have Dale Jr. on the outside of the front row, locked in, just means that we are doing stuff right.”

Martin became the oldest Daytona 500 pole winner at the age of 51.

“I’m real proud to be on the front row with my teammate, in Hendrick cars, and it’s a testament to the engine shop and the fabricators,” said Earnhardt. “I’m real proud for our sponsors, AMP Energy and National Guard. They’ve been really supportive, and we’ve been waiting for what seems like a lifetime through the offseason to get to the racetrack and do good for ‘em. So this felt really good today.”

Interesting stats say:

The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole was Dale Jarrett in 2000
The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the second starting position was Dale Jarrett in 1993
Martin has never won at Daytona in his 49 races there
2002 was the last time a polesitter won the 500 (8 races)

It may not be too much of a surprise the #5 and #88 are side-by-side. Both race teams are housed in the same garage. “The challenge was to run one team with two cars, and then to have those two cars down here that ran almost identical times,” team owner Rick Hendrick said. “I know this is just one race, but no one here, and no one outside our company will know the effort Alan [Gustafson, crew chief of the #5] and Lance [McGrew, crew chief for the #88] put into this team and these two cars, and I’m really proud of them.”

It’s the second Daytona 500 front row sweep by Hendrick Motorsports drivers since 1989. Ken Schrader won the pole that year while Darrell Waltrip qualified second. Waltrip won that year.

The front row is locked in for the Daytona 500, but we’ll have to wait until Thursday’s duel races to see where the rest of the field will line-up. If a driver is guaranteed a starting spot in the 500, the finishing order in each of the duel races will determine starting positions. Eight drivers will have a shot to race their way into the 500 based on finishing order in the duel.

Duel Race #1 Starting Line-Up:
Thursday -- 4 pm (Speed Channel)

Duel Race #2 Starting Line-Up:
Thursday -- 4 pm (Speed Channel)

* go or go-homers (will have to race their way into the 500)