Fords Run Wild as Edwards and Biffle Will Sit on the Daytona 500 Front Row

Photo Courtest Getty Images and NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – RIS – It will be an all-Ford front row when the Daytona 500 takes the green flag next Sunday.  Carl Edwards went out early and won the pole for the coveted race.  Greg baffle had the second fastest time and will start alongside Edwards.

With a lap at 194.738 mph (46.216 seconds) Edwards outran Biffle(194.087 mph) for the top spot in Sunday's Daytona 500 qualifying session, as the Roush Fenway Racing teammates locked themselves into the front row.  No matter what happens in the twin qualifying races on Thursday, their spots are secure.

Edwards, the fifth driver to make a qualifying attempt, won the 11th Coors Light pole award of his career and is the first qualifier for the 2013 Budweiser Shootout, now that NASCAR and the speedway have returned to the traditional eligibility criteria for the season-opening exhibition event.

"This is a very, very speedy Fastenal [Ford] Fusion, and I appreciate [crew chief] Bob Osborne and all the work he's done," Edwards said. "[Engine builder] Doug Yates -- the engines are so important in this.

"It's neat to come down here and to be so fast and to really have fun qualifying here. We've struggled so much in the past, and so many guys have put so much effort in this offseason."

After Edwards and Biffle, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Marcos Ambrose, and Casey Mears were the top qualifiers and made up the Top 5.

Trevor Bayne also got good news on Sunday, his 21st birthday.  His ninth-place qualifying effort locks the defending Daytona 500 champion into the race.

It was also a good day for Tony Raines and David Stremme, who now also know they will race in the 500, having posted the second- and third-fastest speeds among drivers not otherwise exempt because of the Top 35 rule.  That rule states that any car that was in the top 35 in points in 2011 will get provisional starting positions in the first six races of the year.  Texas’ Terry Labonte is likewise is in the race as the most recent past series champion not otherwise qualified. Labonte could also race his way into the Daytona 500 during his Duel race, which could open the champion's provisional for 1988 champion Bill Elliott

The final four spots in the 500 field will go to the top two finishers in each Duel not already assured of a starting spot.

In all, it was a Ford day.  Four of the top five qualifiers were in Ford Fusions.  In fact, six of the top 10 qualifiers were Fords.  Chevrolet placed on two cars in the top 10 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. qualified 3rd, while defending champion Tony Stewart qualified 10th and Toyota placed only the Martin Truex, Jr. entry in 7th position.  The fields for the two qualifying races will be set on a complicated system where Edwards will start on the pole in one race and Biffle in the other.  The rest of the field will be determined by alternating drivers into one race or another.  A good showing could determine a higher starting position, but a wreck or mechanical failure could spell doom.

Danica Patrick, who has a guaranteed starting spot by virtue of an owner points deal between Stewart-Haas Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing, qualified 30th for her Sprint Cup debut. When she takes the green flag next Sunday, Patrick will become the third woman to start the Daytona 500, joining Janet Guthrie and Shawna Robinson.

Patrick's car was spewing water long before she completed her second lap at an average speed of 191.738 mph. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli expressed some concern about the early overheating, but, by and large, Patrick was satisfied with her first Cup qualifying effort.

"It felt fine," she said. "It got a little hot on the water at the end, but other than that -- some water blowing out of the car -- but everybody did a good job. Everybody worked really, really hard on the cars.