Daytona pole decided
Second-year driver William Byron, 21, qualifies first for the Daytona 500.
William Byron put Hendrick Motorsports in a familiar position: On the pole for the Daytona 500.
Byron, 21, and 25-year-old teammate Alex Bowman, 25, locked in the front row during qualifying laps Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. They comprise the youngest front row in Daytona 500 history.
Pole position doesn’t necessarily mean much. The last Daytona pole-sitter to win was Dale Jarrett in 2000.
The duo edged the other two Hendrick drivers: seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and fan favorite Chase Elliott.
“That’s a pretty amazing feat, I feel,” said Hendrick crew chief Chad Knaus, in his first season with Byron after 18 years with Johnson.
Byron reached a top speed of 194.304 mph, nearly twotenths of a second faster than Bowman (194.153). The rest of the 40-car lineup will be set by two qualifying races Thursday.
Joey Gase, Ryan Truex, Parker Kligerman and Brandan Gaughan likely will have to race their way into the 500 during the qualifying races. Two will make it, the other two won’t.
Earlier Sunday, NASCAR ejected car chiefs for three racers over failed inspections. Greg Ebert for Austin Dillon, Billy Plourde (Ty Dillon) and Josh Kirk (Chase Elliott) will not be allowed to in the garage until the next race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Monster Energy Series
Jimmie Johnson caused a wreck that wiped out nearly the entire field at Daytona then won the rainshortened exhibition Clash.
Paul Menard led 51 laps in a race interrupted multiple times by rain. Johnson tried to side-draft Menard as they battled for the lead, but Johnson turned Menard and started a chain-reaction accident that left cars sideways and smoking behind the No. 48 Chevrolet.
Rain ended the race soon after and Johnson won for the first time with new crew chief Kevin Meendering.
NHRA
Austin Prock earned his first career round win under gloomy conditions at NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., beating John Force Racing teammate Brittany Force in the first round before weather suspended competition.
Reigning world champion Steve Torrence extended his unbeaten streak to 25 rounds in a row with a 3.688 run to beat Steve Faria before officials postponed eliminations until Monday due to repeated rain delays.
Racing will resume at 10 a.m. Monday. Top Fuel will take to the track to start the day by completing their first round of eliminations. Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Rodger Brogdon are the No. 1 qualifiers.