Daytona Duel Qualifying Storylines

Daytona Duel qualifying Wednesday night had some fantastic storylines from the 6 open cars to the pole & front row. Here are the biggest stories to come from the Birthplace of Speed last night.

Jimmie Johnson & Travis Pastrana qualify in on Speed

Johnson and Pastrana will not have to worry about racing their way into the 65th running of the Great American Race in tonight's Duels. Although neither of the pair did not make it to the second round of qualifying for the Top-10 or Pole, they did secure their spots using speed over the other 4 open cars with Johnson running 179.276 (good for 23rd) and Pastrana with a 179.254 (good for 25th). Both will set their place tonight for the Daytona 500.

Issues For Open Drivers

Chandler Smith in the #13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet had some major issues with the car rolling out of the pits toward turn 1 with the car not wanting to stay fired. Smith rolled the 13 back around and down pit road to address the issues while a couple other cars ran their laps. Smith still had issues on his lap and ran a 175.022 (good for last). Conor Daly, driver of the #50 MTM Chevrolet on the other hand had an even worse night. Daly did not even get a chance to run a lap with the oil line in his car just "Exploding". Both Daly and Smith will have to try to race their way in tonight.

Front Row Bow Returns

Alex Bowman broke the all time record for Daytona 500 front row starts last night running a blistering 181.686, .63 MPH faster than his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson who will start the 500 outside Pole.

Kyle Busch's Round 2 Disallowed

Kyle Busch in his first points paying outing for Richard Childress Racing qualified into the 2nd round but even as Busch ran an impressive lap to improve his standing, he dropped bellow the double yellow line to attempt a draft behind Austin Cindric on his cooldown lap down the back stretch. Busch's run was good for P.3 at the time but the time was later disallowed by the tower. He was granted last in the 2nd round giving him 10th.

By: Tom Luttermoser Image: Legacy Motor Club