After his third place finish in the non-championship Budweiser Shootout, Australia’s Marcos Ambrose has continued his solid start to his Daytona 500 preparations with fourth place in qualifying.
Part of a good sign for Ambrose is that fellow Ford drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle gave the Blue Oval a lock-out of the front row.
Just where Ambrose will start ‘The Great American Race’ will be determined on Friday morning Australian time, when he takes part in the Gatorade Duels. 43 cars will start the race, but 49 cars took to the track in time trials, so two qualifying races (the Gatorade Duels), will decide positions 3-43. Ironically Ambrose will need to win, or finish second behind Edwards, in his qualifying race to maintain his current starting position.
“It’s the best speedway car I’ve had down here in my three or four years in Cup,” said Ambrose.
“I’m excited for Sunday. I’m excited for the Duels. I think we have a real shot to win it.”
“I was actually more nervous today because you know that any small jerk on the wheel can really affect your time.
“There’s not much a driver can do but mess up out there. They can’t gain any speed, but they can sure lose some.”
Ambrose is locked-in for the race no matter where he finishes, as he was placed in the top 26 in points from last year’s series.
The car Ambrose qualified for the Daytona 500 is not the same vehicle he drove in the Bud Shootout.
RACE LINEUP
Daytona 500 | Daytona International Speedway
|
POS |
CAR |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
SPEED |
TIME |
BEHIND |
| 1 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Fastenal | 194.738 | 46.216 | Leader |
| 2 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 194.087 | 46.371 | -0.155 |
| 3 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard | 194.028 | 46.385 | -0.169 |
| 4 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 193.999 | 46.392 | -0.176 |
| 5 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 193.844 | 46.429 | -0.213 |
| 6 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 193.803 | 46.439 | -0.223 |
| 7 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 193.665 | 46.472 | -0.256 |
| 8 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 193.665 | 46.472 | -0.256 |
| 9 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 193.615 | 46.484 | -0.268 |
| 10 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 193.607 | 46.486 | -0.270 |
| 11 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 193.503 | 46.511 | -0.295 |
| 12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 193.449 | 46.524 | -0.308 |
| 13 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Smithfield “Helping Hungry Homes” | 193.382 | 46.540 | -0.324 |
| 14 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Peak / Menards | 193.374 | 46.542 | -0.326 |
| 15 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | Scorpion Truck Bed Liners | 193.249 | 46.572 | -0.356 |
| 16 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Best Buy | 193.245 | 46.573 | -0.357 |
| 17 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army / Quicken Loans | 193.224 | 46.578 | -0.362 |
| 18 | 22 | A.J. Allmendinger | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 193.121 | 46.603 | -0.387 |
| 19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 192.992 | 46.634 | -0.418 |
| 20 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 192.914 | 46.653 | -0.437 |
| 21 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 192.868 | 46.664 | -0.448 |
| 22 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 192.843 | 46.670 | -0.454 |
| 23 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 192.777 | 46.686 | -0.470 |
| 24 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 192.600 | 46.729 | -0.513 |
| 25 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 192.583 | 46.733 | -0.517 |
| 26 | 26 | Tony Raines | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 192.534 | 46.745 | -0.529 |
| 27 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 191.963 | 46.884 | -0.668 |
| 28 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s Brown | 191.873 | 46.906 | -0.690 |
| 29 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats | 191.840 | 46.914 | -0.698 |
| 30 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 191.738 | 46.939 | -0.723 |
| 31 | 109 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota | American Ethanol | 191.567 | 46.981 | -0.765 |
| 32 | 32 | Terry Labonte | Ford | C&J Energy | 191.522 | 46.992 | -0.776 |
| 33 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Ollie’s Bargain Outlet | 191.506 | 46.996 | -0.780 |
| 34 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 191.363 | 47.031 | -0.815 |
| 35 | 33 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | General Mills / Kroger | 191.270 | 47.054 | -0.838 |
| 36 | 140 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 191.180 | 47.076 | -0.860 |
| 37 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves | 191.160 | 47.081 | -0.865 |
| 38 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 191.127 | 47.089 | -0.873 |
| 39 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / CSX “Play it Safe” | 191.062 | 47.105 | -0.889 |
| 40 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | K-Love / Curb Records | 190.990 | 47.123 | -0.907 |
| 41 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King | 190.605 | 47.218 | -1.002 |
| 42 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | MHP Power Pak Pudding | 190.046 | 47.357 | -1.141 |
| 43 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Kroger | 190.022 | 47.363 | -1.147 |
| 44 | 97 | Bill Elliott | Toyota | AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves | 189.950 | 47.381 | -1.165 |
| 45 | 37 | Mike Wallace | Ford | Poynt.com | 189.853 | 47.405 | -1.189 |
| 46 | 93 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Burger King | 189.235 | 47.560 | -1.344 |
| 47 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Toyota | North Texas Pipe | 188.438 | 47.761 | -1.545 |
| 48 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Mapei / Menards / Speed Energy | 188.229 | 47.814 | -1.598 |
| 49 | 249 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | America Israel Racing | 187.954 | 47.884 | -1.668 |
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
