By: Bruce Martin DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Carl Edwards came to Daytona International Speedway expecting to be fast in qualifications but he didn’t think he would be fast enough for the pole. Edwards surprised himself by winning the pole on Sunday for next week’s Daytona 500 after running a fast lap at 194.738 miles per hour in a Ford Fusion. “When I came down here I wasn’t expecting to win the pole so this is huge,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be really neat. It’s going to be a fun day. This is about Ford. It’s neat to come down here and have the fastest race cars at Daytona. This is huge.” Teammate Greg Biffle was second fast at 194.087 mph. It’s the first time Roush Fenway Racing has swept the front row for the Daytona 500 and the third time in the last 12 years that Ford teammates have been on the front row. In 2000, Robert Yates had Dale Jarrett (1st) and Ricky Rudd (2nd) on Row 1 and Yates duplicated that in 2007 with David Gilliland on the pole and Rudd second. “As we stand here and see these two Ford Fusions as the two fastest it’s a testament to this team,” Edwards said. The Roush Fenway drivers are the only ones who are “locked into” their starting positions for next Sunday’s Daytona 500, barring a crash in practice or Thursday’s Gatorade Duel at Daytona qualifying races or having to drop to the rear of the field because of an engine change. Edwards was the fifth driver to make a qualification attempt and the early draw was beneficial because of better track conditions. Biffle went out soon thereafter and claims that gusty wind conditions hampered his qualification attempt. “I’m a little disappointed,” Biffle said. “I hate the wind. I guess if you are sailing it is good but coming down the front I was 200 RPM more on my first lap than I was my fast lap. That clearly is at least a tenth, tenth-and-a-half, two-tenths of speed. I was singing down the back but coming down the front I just got a big gust of wind coming off of Turn 4 in the short chute and when I went into Turn One I knew I didn’t have it. I was so slow going into Turn One that I’m surprised we’re second. It’s just the luck of the draw.” Fan favorite and 2004 Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was third in a Chevrolet at 194.028 mph. Marcos Ambrose’s Ford was fourth at 193.999 mph followed by Casey Mears’ Chevrolet at193.844 mph. Danica Patrick is making her first NASCAR Sprint Cup start in the Daytona 500 and was the 29th fastest in qualifications at 191.738 mph. Of course, the actual grid will be determined by the order of finish in Thursday’s qualification races with the remainder of the field being determined by time trial speeds and provisional starting positions. Defending Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne celebrated his 21st birthday Sunday and gave himself an early gift with the ninth fastest qualification speed at 193.615 mph. That guarantees him a starting position as a “Go or Go Home” driver. “It’s a lot of relief,” Bayne said. “Now we’re back to the same position we were in last year. We started the Duel knowing we were locked in and it was just wherever we finished and now we’re back right there so I’m ready for it. “It felt pretty good about the lap. Last year I would have been jumping up and down about qualifying in the top 10 but I really thought we had a shot at the pole today as good as our car was yesterday. It’s just the wind was against us. Going through three and four I could feel it kind or gusting onto the nose of our car so at that point there is not much you can do. I help it wide-open and they gave me a great race car, so I think it’s going to race really good and that’s all that really matters. After watching the race last night it doesn’t seem to matter where you start at.” Photo Courtesy: NASCAR Media Group/Getty Images
