The Daytona 500 Qualifying was held on Sunday, which determined the front row for next week's race and awarded berths to four drivers who did not receive automatic entry into first points-earning race of the 2012 Sprint Cup Season.
It was one of the closest finishes for a qualifying event in the history of the Daytona International Speedway, as Carl Edwards bested teammate Greg Biffle by just one-tenth of a second to set the front row for the 2012 Daytona 500. Although the pole and outside pole positions do not typically result in any significant advantage toward winning the race, it is nice bragging rights for both men.
Bakersfield native Kevin Harvick, who is expected to do well in this year's chase for the Sprint Cup, had some trouble for the second day in a row, as his car caught fire toward the end of his laps in the qualifier, but still managed to finish 20th. He also saw his car destroyed in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout, so he'll be hoping for much better luck in the race itself on Sunday.
The final grid will be determined in the duels later this week.
Here's the full list of how Qualifying finished, but this is not the starting lineup. Non-qualified drivers are in bold.
- Carl Edwards
- Greg Biffle
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Marcos Ambrose
- Casey Mears
- Jeff Gordon
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Trevor Bayne * (clinched berth in Daytona 500)
- Tony Stewart
- Mark Martin
- Jimmie Johnson
- AJ Allmendinger
- Paul Menard
- David Ragan
- Matt Kenseth
- Ryan Newman
- AJ Allmendinger
- Brad Keselowski
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Clint Bowyer
- Jeff Burton
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Kasey Kahne
- Tony Raines * (clinched berth in Daytona 500)
- David Stremme * (clinched berth in Daytona 500)
- Kyle Busch
- Jamie McMurray
- Danica Patrick
- Kenny Wallace
- Terry Labonte * (guaranteed spot via past champion's provisional)
- Dave Blaney
- Kurt Busch
- Elliott Sadler
- Michael Waltrip
- Joe Nemechek
- Denny Hamlin
- Regan Smith
- Michael McDowell
- Landon Cassill
- David Gilliland
- Bobby Labonte
- Bill Elliott
- Mike Wallace
- David Reutimann
- Robert Richardson Jr.
- Robby Gordon
- JJ Yeley
For more on the Great American Race, check out SB Nation NASCAR's Daytona 500 stream, as well as NASCAR Ranting & Raving.