bigbadbrother
07-04-2014, 11:08 PM
Jay Pennell
The first attempt at knockout qualifying at Daytona International Speedway was one of the strangest Daytona qualifying sessions to date, as many drivers worried more about strategy than laying down a fast lap.
At times, cars were crawling around the speedway as they worked on the various strategies, trying to build packs and block the strong runs of other packs -- and then, shortly after Round 1 was completed, the rains came. That left David Gilliland, a driver for Front Row Motorsports, on the pole for the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night as he recorded the fastest lap before the last two schedule rounds of qualifying were washed out.
Working together with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first round, Gilliland, Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill and Bobby Labonte leap-frogged the Hendrick Motorsports cars of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to sit first through fourth on the leaderboard.
Despite a late push by a large pack, the top five remained the same at the end of Round 1.
Among those not advancing to the second round were Trevor Bayne, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.
As crews prepared to go out for the second round, rain returned to the speedway, leading NASCAR to end the qualifying session early. With qualifying shortened by rain, Gilliland earned his third-career Sprint Cup Series pole.
Thanks to the rain, Reed Sorenson recorded his second front row starting spot in 207 career races.
Joe Nemechek was the only car not to qualify for Saturday night's race.
Michael McDowell went to the top of the charts early in the session as the various groups of cars tried to gain momentum and break the momentum of the other packs.
Ryan Newman pulled a large pack around in the opening round of the qualifying session, but pulled to pit road when the plan did not work out. Moments later, he and another group of Richard Childress Racing and RCR-powered cars grouped up for one more run, but could only record the 20th-fastest time.
With the varying strategies, there were multiple close calls on the track as cars bobbed and weaved their way through slower cars around the 2.5-mile superspeedway, but the entire session ran without incident.
After climbing from their cars, many drivers struggled to understand what exactly took place during the qualifying session.
Brian Vickers, who qualified 30th, called the strange qualifying session a mess and said he was surprised nobody wrecked while running the various strategies.
One of the best qualifiers so far in 2014, Joey Logano failed to advance from the first round for only the second time this year. The other time he failed to advance was the other restrictor-plate race at Talladega. The Team Penske driver called Friday's qualifying session "pretty dumb."
Coke Zero 400
Qualifying
Pos Driver Car # Make Qual. Speed
1 David Gilliland 38 Ford 199.322
2 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 199.221
3 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 199.194
4 Bobby Labonte 33 Chevrolet 198.970
5 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 198.790
6 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 198.776
7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 198.697
8 David Ragan 34 Ford 198.684
9 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 198.662
10 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 198.575
11 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 198.531
12 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 198.474
13 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 198.470
14 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 198.373
15 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 198.234
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 198.229
17 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 198.116
18 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 198.103
19 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 198.068
20 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 198.059
21 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 198.055
22 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 198.042
23 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 198.033
24 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 198.015
25 Trevor Bayne 21 Ford 197.994
26 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 197.850
27 Michael McDowell 95 Ford 197.820
28 Joey Logano 22 Ford 197.741
29 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 197.724
30 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 197.364
31 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 197.273
32 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 197.217
33 Josh Wise 98 Ford 197.152
34 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 196.975
35 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 196.691
36 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 196.661
37 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 196.070
38 Terry Labonte 32 Ford 195.980
39 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 195.972
40 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 195.776
41 Michael Waltrip 66 Toyota 195.372
42 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 193.183
43 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 192.984
44 Joe Nemechek 129 Toyota DNQ
The first attempt at knockout qualifying at Daytona International Speedway was one of the strangest Daytona qualifying sessions to date, as many drivers worried more about strategy than laying down a fast lap.
At times, cars were crawling around the speedway as they worked on the various strategies, trying to build packs and block the strong runs of other packs -- and then, shortly after Round 1 was completed, the rains came. That left David Gilliland, a driver for Front Row Motorsports, on the pole for the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night as he recorded the fastest lap before the last two schedule rounds of qualifying were washed out.
Working together with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first round, Gilliland, Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill and Bobby Labonte leap-frogged the Hendrick Motorsports cars of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to sit first through fourth on the leaderboard.
Despite a late push by a large pack, the top five remained the same at the end of Round 1.
Among those not advancing to the second round were Trevor Bayne, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.
As crews prepared to go out for the second round, rain returned to the speedway, leading NASCAR to end the qualifying session early. With qualifying shortened by rain, Gilliland earned his third-career Sprint Cup Series pole.
Thanks to the rain, Reed Sorenson recorded his second front row starting spot in 207 career races.
Joe Nemechek was the only car not to qualify for Saturday night's race.
Michael McDowell went to the top of the charts early in the session as the various groups of cars tried to gain momentum and break the momentum of the other packs.
Ryan Newman pulled a large pack around in the opening round of the qualifying session, but pulled to pit road when the plan did not work out. Moments later, he and another group of Richard Childress Racing and RCR-powered cars grouped up for one more run, but could only record the 20th-fastest time.
With the varying strategies, there were multiple close calls on the track as cars bobbed and weaved their way through slower cars around the 2.5-mile superspeedway, but the entire session ran without incident.
After climbing from their cars, many drivers struggled to understand what exactly took place during the qualifying session.
Brian Vickers, who qualified 30th, called the strange qualifying session a mess and said he was surprised nobody wrecked while running the various strategies.
One of the best qualifiers so far in 2014, Joey Logano failed to advance from the first round for only the second time this year. The other time he failed to advance was the other restrictor-plate race at Talladega. The Team Penske driver called Friday's qualifying session "pretty dumb."
Coke Zero 400
Qualifying
Pos Driver Car # Make Qual. Speed
1 David Gilliland 38 Ford 199.322
2 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 199.221
3 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 199.194
4 Bobby Labonte 33 Chevrolet 198.970
5 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 198.790
6 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 198.776
7 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 198.697
8 David Ragan 34 Ford 198.684
9 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 198.662
10 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 198.575
11 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 198.531
12 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 198.474
13 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 198.470
14 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 198.373
15 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 198.234
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 198.229
17 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 198.116
18 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 198.103
19 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 198.068
20 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 198.059
21 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 198.055
22 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 198.042
23 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 198.033
24 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 198.015
25 Trevor Bayne 21 Ford 197.994
26 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 197.850
27 Michael McDowell 95 Ford 197.820
28 Joey Logano 22 Ford 197.741
29 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 197.724
30 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 197.364
31 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 197.273
32 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 197.217
33 Josh Wise 98 Ford 197.152
34 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 196.975
35 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 196.691
36 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 196.661
37 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 196.070
38 Terry Labonte 32 Ford 195.980
39 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 195.972
40 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 195.776
41 Michael Waltrip 66 Toyota 195.372
42 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 193.183
43 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 192.984
44 Joe Nemechek 129 Toyota DNQ