Truex On Pole for the Budweiser Shootout

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - RIS - Martin Truex Jr. will lead the 25-car field to the green flag in the 34th annual Budweiser Shootout at Daytona on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. Truex secured the top starting position through the random selection process that took place Friday night at the SPEED Stage. The starting lineup was determined at the annual Budweiser Shootout Draw Party during which the participating drivers selected a Budweiser bottle featuring a number behind the Budweiser label. The number serves as the driver's starting position. Truex was the 18th driver to participate in the annual raw party and will make his second start in the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night.

 
"It's just cool," Truex said after picking the pole position. "I haven't been in this race in a few years. I absolutely hated being down here (those years) and watching this race, so it's cool just to be in it and to get the pole is icing on the cake. My car was really good today in practice," he continued. "I was happy with it. It drove really good. I heard a lot of guys were having some handling issues, but my car was great, so I'm pretty excited about it. (My car) had good speed and was able to stay up in the front of the pack in the draft. We're looking forward to tomorrow night."

 
The defending winner of the Budweiser Shootout, #51-Kurt Busch, will start from the sixth position while Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser Chevy drew the 22nd starting spot.

THE STARTING LINEUP:

#1-McMurray, Chevy, chose 25th, starts 4th
#2-Keselowski, Dodge, chose 5th, starts 3rd
#5-Kahne, Chevy, chose 14th, starts 19th
#9-Ambrose, Ford, chose 19th, starts 21st
#11-Hamlin, Toyota, chose 9th, starts 16th
#14-Stewart, Chevy, chose 4th, starts 15th
#15-Bowyer, Toyota, chose 13th, starts 17th
#16-Biffle, Ford, chose 16th, starts 7th
#17-Kenseth, Ford, chose 3rd, starts 23rd
#18-Busch, Toyota, chose 12th, starts 2nd
#20-Logano, Toyota, chose 23rd, starts 10th
#22-Allmendinger, Dodge, chose 15th, starts 9th
#24-Gordon, Chevy, chose 8th, starts 14th
#27-Menard, Chevy, chose 17th, starts 24th
#29-Harvick, Chevy, chose 2nd, starts 22nd
#31-Burton, Chevy, chose 20th, starts 12th
#34-Ragan, Ford, chose 22nd, starts 5th
#39-Newman, Chevy, chose 10th, starts 13th
#42-Montoya, Chevy, chose 21st, starts 25th
#48-Johnson, Chevy, chose 6th, starts 18th
#51-Busch, Chevy, chose 11th, starts 6th
#55-Waltrip, Toyota, chose 24th, starts 20th
#56-Truex Jr., Toyota, chose 18th, starts 1st/POLE
#88-Earnhardt Jr., Chevy, chose 7th, starts 8th
#99-Edwards, Ford, chose 1st, starts 11th