Bowman, No. 88 earn pole for Daytona 500
Replacement for Earnhardt Jr. has a sparkling debut.
Alex Bowman put an old familiar car on top of the Daytona 500 leaderboard.
Bowman won the pole for “The Great American Race” in his debut as the official driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet, piloted until last season by NASCAR rock star Dale Earnhardt Jr. Six of Earnhardt’s 17 career victories at Daytona International Speedway came in that car, including one of his Daytona 500 victories.
Earnhardt, now retired, was a seven-time pole winner at Daytona, too.
The empty seat in the No. 88 went to Bowman and he wasted no time making the Camaro his own. Bowman turned a lap at 195.644 mph on Sunday to earn the top starting spot for the Daytona 500.
“I think it’s still a little surreal,” said Bowman, who will race in his second Daytona 500.
“It’s a dream come true just to drive for Hendrick Motorsports,” Bowman said. “I never would have thought it would happen after the path my career took.”
Denny Hamlin, the 2016 winner, qualified second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing with a lap at 195.092. Only the top two cars were locked into next Sunday’s season-opening race in this round of qualifying. The remainder of the field will be set by a pair of qualifying races Thursday.
Bowman was a driver struggling to piece together a schedule when Earnhardt was injured in 2016. Earnhardt missed the second half of that season with a concussion and Bowman was tabbed to fill in for 10 of those races.
The 24-year-old from Arizona impressed Rick Hendrick enough that when Earnhardt said he would retire at the end of 2017, Bowman got the job.
He made his boss proud, too, with the pole-winning run. Hendrick is now tied with Harry Ranier for the record of most consecutive Daytona 500 poles at four. Jeff Gordon won the pole DAYTONA SPEEDWEEKS Monster Energy Cup Can-Am Duels, FS1 Camping World Truck Series race, FS1
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Daytona 500, Fox in 2015, Chase Elliott won it the past two seasons and now Bowman has the honor.
Bowman downplayed his role.
“I just held the steering wheel. It’s Daytona,” he said.
The Clash at Daytona: Brad Keselowski led a 1-2 Team Penske sweep in the exhibition race that marks the opening of Speedweeks.
The three-car Penske contingent moved to the front of the field and had the race in control as they closed in on the checkered flag. Keselowski had a piece of garbage stuck to the front of his Ford, and that appeared to be his only challenge.
Ryan Blaney pulled out of line from behind Keselowski on the final lap in an attempt to beat his teammate, but he was left alone in the bottom lane at Daytona International Speedway and faded into traffic. Joey Logano didn’t have enough help to mount a challenge on Keselowski and had to settle for second. Sunday’s Games
Penguins 4, (at) Blues 1: Sidney Crosby scored twice, including his 400th career goal, to lead Pittsburgh, and Bryan Rust snapped a tie with a third-period goal.
Rangers 3, (at) Jets 1: Jimmy Vesey returned to the lineup after missing three games with a concussion and scored with 3:53 left in the third period to lift New York.
Red Wings 5, (at) Capitals 4 (OT): Tomas Tatar scored his second goal of the game 2:47 into overtime as Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak.
Canucks 6, (at) Stars 0: Reid Boucher scored his first two goals of the season and Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves as Vancouver snapped a four-game slide.
Avalanche 5, (at) Sabres 4: Tyson Jost and Gabriel Bourque converted rebounds less than four minutes apart in the third period to lead Colorado.
Bruins 5, (at) Devils 3: Adam McQuaid got his first goal of the season with 8:05 to play as Boston extended its road point-scoring streak to 13 games.
Flames 3, (at) Islanders 2: Matthew Tkachuk scored twice in the third period, getting the tiebreaking goal with 1:05 remaining, as Calgary rallied from a 2-0 deficit.
Flyers 4, (at) Golden Knights 1: Sean Couturier had a goal and two assists as Philadelphia became just the fourth team to defeat Vegas at T Mobile Arena.
Sharks 3, (at) Ducks 2 (SO): Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture scored in the shootout for San Jose. Couture had a goal in regulation.
NHL notes
Sabres: Leading scorer Jack Eichel will miss four to six weeks with a sprained right ankle.
Today’s Games