Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Streaks To Daytona 500 Pole

New car, new team, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins pole
New car, new team, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins pole

For the last five years, the story of Daytona 500 pole day has been Hendrick Motorsports.

That changed on Sunday – sort of – as Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., in his first outing for JTG Daugherty Racing, put the No. 47 Chevrolet on the pole for next weekend’s running of the “Great American Race" at Daytona International Speedway.

The pole came in a car powered by a Hendrick Motorsports engine.

Stenhouse, Jr. turned a lap 194.582 mph (46.253 seconds) to claim his first career pole in the 500. His move to the No. 47 came after an ouster from Roush-Fenway Racing, who chose to exercise a contract extension with Chris Buescher for 2020.

Buescher, ironically, was pulled from the No. 47, opening the door for Stenhouse, Jr.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]“Yeah, it’s huge," said Stenhouse, Jr. “Any time you can start the season off, your first race with an organization, and to see all the work that they’ve put in; guys at the shop that I didn’t even know were working Saturdays and late nights all for the benefit of me to come down here and jump in this car and run fast."

And while the pole snaps the five year streak for Hendrick Motorsports drivers, it wasn’t a total loss, as they provide engines for the JTG Daugherty team.

“Touring the Hendrick engine shop, they were pumped-up for me to switch over into their horsepower," Stenhouse, Jr. said. “So this goes to a lot of people that work hard behind the scenes for me to come out here and drive. It’s a cool way to start Speedweeks."

Add to that Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman was second quick at 194.363 mph, locking himself into the outside of the front row for the Daytona 500.

“We have a great Valvoline Camaro. I’m really happy with how the new Camaro has been so far," said Bowman. “The front row is still really good. Obviously, we wanted the pole, but just barely missed it there. So, hat’s off to the Hendrick engine shop, the fab shop, and all the guys that work on these things all winter. This is really all about them. As a driver, you can really only screw it up. So, you can’t make it really go any faster. So, I’m proud of all the guys and we’ve got the best-looking car here with Valvoline on board. It looks awesome, and hopefully we’ll be up front in the 500."

All Hendrick engine front row - Bowman (L) and Stenhouse (R)
All Hendrick engine front row – Bowman (L) and Stenhouse (R)

Add to that Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman was second quick at 194.363 mph, locking himself into the outside of the front row for the Daytona 500.

The remainder of the field will be set in Thursday night’s qualifying races.

Two-time 500 pole winner Chase Elliott was third fast, with Jimmie Johnson fourth quick as he prepares for his final season on the NASCAR Cup Series tour.

Two-time and defending Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin was fifth quick with 2019 series champion Kyle Busch sixth. Aric Almirola was the fastest Ford driver with a seventh place result, followed by defending pole winner William Byron in eighth, Rookie of the Year contender Christopher Bell in ninth and Erik Jones in tenth.

Two non-chartered teams can go into the rest of the week breathing easy, as Justin Haley and Brendan Gaughan locked themselves into next weekends Daytona 500 on speed. Haley timed in 31st quick, while Gaughan was 33rd.

Results

Round 2

Pos Car Driver Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
1 24 William Byron 46.319 194.305 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 88 Alex Bowman 46.355 194.154 1 1 0.036 0.036
3 48 Jimmie Johnson 46.438 193.807 1 1 0.119 0.083
4 9 Chase Elliott 46.444 193.782 1 1 0.125 0.006
5 8 Daniel Hemric # 46.763 192.460 1 1 0.444 0.319
6 22 Joey Logano 46.766 192.448 1 1 0.447 0.003
7 19 Martin Truex Jr. 46.789 192.353 1 1 0.470 0.023
8 14 Clint Bowyer 46.804 192.291 1 1 0.485 0.015
9 2 Brad Keselowski 46.811 192.263 1 1 0.492 0.007
10 3 Austin Dillon 47.018 191.416 1 1 0.699 0.207
11 21 Paul Menard 47.094 191.107 1 1 0.775 0.076
12 11 Denny Hamlin 47.246 190.492 1 1 0.927 0.152

Round 1

Pos Car Driver Time Speed Lap # # Laps -Fastest -Next
1 88 Alex Bowman 46.408 193.932 1 1 0.000 0.000
2 24 William Byron 46.432 193.832 1 1 0.024 0.024
3 9 Chase Elliott 46.469 193.678 1 1 0.061 0.037
4 48 Jimmie Johnson 46.649 192.930 1 1 0.241 0.180
5 22 Joey Logano 46.782 192.382 1 1 0.374 0.133
6 2 Brad Keselowski 46.797 192.320 1 1 0.389 0.015
7 19 Martin Truex Jr. 46.803 192.295 1 1 0.395 0.006
8 14 Clint Bowyer 46.857 192.074 1 1 0.449 0.054
9 8 Daniel Hemric # 46.861 192.057 1 1 0.453 0.004
10 3 Austin Dillon 46.938 191.742 1 1 0.530 0.077
11 11 Denny Hamlin 47.009 191.453 1 1 0.601 0.071
12 21 Paul Menard 47.072 191.196 1 1 0.664 0.063
13 18 Kyle Busch 47.080 191.164 1 1 0.672 0.008
14 20 Erik Jones 47.089 191.127 1 1 0.681 0.009
15 4 Kevin Harvick 47.131 190.957 1 1 0.723 0.042
16 31 * Tyler Reddick(i) 47.161 190.836 1 1 0.753 0.030
17 12 Ryan Blaney 47.170 190.799 1 1 0.762 0.009
18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47.177 190.771 1 1 0.769 0.007
19 10 Aric Almirola 47.185 190.739 1 1 0.777 0.008
20 41 Daniel Suarez 47.195 190.698 1 1 0.787 0.010
21 1 Kurt Busch 47.222 190.589 1 1 0.814 0.027
22 37 Chris Buescher 47.261 190.432 1 1 0.853 0.039
23 38 David Ragan 47.264 190.420 1 1 0.856 0.003
24 6 Ryan Newman 47.364 190.018 1 1 0.956 0.100
25 34 Michael McDowell 47.374 189.978 1 1 0.966 0.010
26 27 * Casey Mears 47.406 189.849 1 1 0.998 0.032
27 71 * Ryan Truex(i) 47.434 189.737 1 1 1.026 0.028
28 47 Ryan Preece # 47.441 189.709 1 1 1.033 0.007
29 40 Jamie McMurray 47.498 189.482 1 1 1.090 0.057
30 95 Matt DiBenedetto 47.515 189.414 1 1 1.107 0.017
31 62 * Brendan 47.520 189.394 1 1 1.112 0.005
32 42 Kyle Larson 47.565 189.215 1 1 1.157 0.045
33 43 Bubba Wallace 47.571 189.191 1 1 1.163 0.006
34 13 Ty Dillon 47.691 188.715 1 1 1.283 0.120
35 36 Matt Tifft # 47.703 188.667 1 1 1.295 0.012
36 96 * Parker Kligerman(i) 47.820 188.206 1 1 1.412 0.117
37 15 Ross Chastain(i) 47.898 187.899 1 1 1.490 0.078
38 0 Landon Cassill 48.025 187.402 1 1 1.617 0.127
39 32 Corey LaJoie 48.427 185.847 1 1 2.019 0.402
40 52 Cody Ware # 48.983 183.737 1 1 2.575 0.556
41 51 BJ McLeod(i) 49.266 182.682 1 1 2.858 0.283
42 66 * Joey Gase(i) 49.743 180.930 1 1 3.335 0.477

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