Carl Edwards takes Daytona 500 pole
Carl Edwards secured pole position for the Daytona 500 as Fords dominated qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup season-opener
Last year's championship runner-up will share the front row with his Roush Fenway team-mate Greg Biffle.
Only the top two starting positions were set by today's qualifying session, as the remainder of the starting order is decided by Thursday's Gatorade Duel heat races.
Edwards set a time of 46.216 seconds at an average speed of 194.738mph to beat Biffle to the top spot by 0.155s.
Fords filled four of the top five places, with only Hendrick Chevrolet driver Dale Earnhardt Jr interrupting the marque's sweep by going third quickest.
Petty Ford's Marcos Ambrose and Germain Ford's Casey Mears completed the top five, followed by Jeff Gordon in another Hendrick Chevy.
Last year's shock winner Trevor Bayne showed good form again by going ninth quickest for Wood Brothers, just ahead of reigning Cup champion Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Chevrolet). Kyle Busch, winner of last night's Budweiser Shootout, was only 28th in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Quickest Toyota driver was Michael Waltrip Racing's Martin Truex Jr in seventh.
Danica Patrick was 30th-quickest in her first Cup qualifying session.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 46.216s 2. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 46.371s + 0.155s 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 46.385s + 0.169s 4. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 46.392s + 0.176s 5. Casey Mears Germain Ford 46.429s + 0.213s 6. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 46.439s + 0.223s 7. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 46.472s + 0.256s 8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 46.472s + 0.256s 9. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 46.484s + 0.268s 10. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.486s + 0.270s 11. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 46.511s + 0.295s 12. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 46.524s + 0.308s 13. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 46.540s + 0.324s 14. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 46.542s + 0.326s 15. David Ragan Front Row Ford 46.572s + 0.356s 16. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 46.573s + 0.357s 17. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.578s + 0.362s 18. AJ Allmendinger Penske Dodge 46.603s + 0.387s 19. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 46.634s + 0.418s 20. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 46.653s + 0.437s 21. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 46.664s + 0.448s 22. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 46.670s + 0.454s 23. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 46.686s + 0.470s 24. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 46.729s + 0.513s 25. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 46.733s + 0.517s 26. Tony Raines Front Row Ford 46.745s + 0.529s 27. David Stremme Inception Toyota 46.884s + 0.668s 28. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 46.906s + 0.690s 29. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 46.914s + 0.698s 30. Danica Patrick Baldwin Chevrolet 46.939s + 0.723s 31. Kenny Wallace RAB Toyota 46.981s + 0.765s 32. Terry Labonte FAS Lane Ford 46.992s + 0.776s 33. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 46.996s + 0.780s 34. Kurt Busch Phoenix Chevrolet 47.031s + 0.815s 35. Elliott Sadler Childress Chevrolet 47.054s + 0.838s 36. Michael Waltrip Waltrip Toyota 47.076s + 0.860s 37. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 47.081s + 0.865s 38. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 47.089s + 0.873s 39. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 47.105s + 0.889s 40. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 47.123s + 0.907s 41. Landon Cassill BK Toyota 47.218s + 1.002s 42. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 47.357s + 1.141s 43. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 47.363s + 1.147s 44. Bill Elliott NEMCO Toyota 47.381s + 1.165s 45. Mike Wallace Max Q Ford 47.405s + 1.189s 46. David Reutimann BK Toyota 47.560s + 1.344s 47. Robert Richardson Jr R3 Toyota 47.761s + 1.545s 48. Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge 47.814s + 1.598s 49. JJ Yeley Robinson-Blakeney Toyota 47.884s + 1.668s
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