NASCAR Starting Lineup for the Daytona 500

Author:
Tom Bowles
Publish date:
Feb 17, 2019

Here’s the starting lineup for today’s (Feb. 17) Daytona 500. Forty-two drivers attempted the race, competing for 40 spots. Rookie William Byron won the pole with Alex Bowman on the outside of the front row. It was a 1-2 sweep for Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet but Ford pulled a counterattack in Thursday’s Qualifying Duels, pulling 1-2-3 finishes in both qualifying races to sweep the next six spots.

NASCAR starting lineup for the Daytona 500

1. William Byron

2. Alex Bowman

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Joey Logano

5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Paul Menard

8. Aric Almirola

9. Matt DiBenedetto

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Martin Truex Jr.

12. Kurt Busch

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Ryan Blaney

15. Chris Buescher

16. Jamie McMurray

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. Chase Elliott

19. Ryan Newman

20. Austin Dillon

21. Ryan Preece

22. Ty Dillon

23. Daniel Suarez

24. David Ragan

25. Parker Kligerman

26. Kyle Larson

27. Landon Cassill

28. Erik Jones

29. Daniel Hemric

30. Brendan Gaughan

31. Kyle Busch

32. Corey Lajoie

33. Matt Tifft

34. Michael McDowell

35. Brad Keselowski

36. Ross Chastain

37. Cody Ware

38. BJ McLeod

39. Tyler Reddick

40. Casey Mears

Failed To Qualify

#71 – Ryan Truex: Truex was running his first race for the reestablished Tommy Baldwin Racing. TBR plans about 5-7 races this season with Truex behind the wheel but he was unable to fend off the Toyota teamwork of Parker Kligerman and Kyle Busch in the first qualifying Duel. Busch, despite a wounded car after a wreck, was able to work with Kligerman and push him past Tyler Reddick to earn a spot in the Daytona 500. That knocked Truex out of the race while Reddick was still able to qualify on speed.

#66 – Joey Gase: Gase was off the pace all Daytona Speedweeks and failed to make the field in his first race running for Carl Long and his Motorsports Business Management (MBM) Cup operation. He’ll continue to run a limited schedule with MBM in Cup while running the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time.

QUALIFYING NOTES

Byron won the pole at age 21, the first of his Cup career. The reigning Cup Series Rookie Of The Year is seeking his first career Cup victory.
Bowman is on the front row at the Daytona 500 for the second straight year. He ran 17th in last year’s race after winning the pole.
Casey Mears will be running in his first Daytona 500 since the 2016 edition of the race. He’ll be running a second car for his former full-time team, Germain Racing, in a partnership with Premium Motorsports.
Jamie McMurray starts 16th in what’s widely expected to be the final Cup start of his career. The 2010 Daytona 500 winner signed a one-race deal to run with newly-formed Spire Motorsports after being released by Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of 2018. This special tribute car with sponsorship from longtime backer McDonald’s is being run to honor a career that spanned nearly two decades, 582 Cup starts, and includes seven career wins.

NASCAR RACE BREAKDOWN

Race: Daytona 500

Track: Daytona International Speedway

Date: Sunday, February 17

Time: 2:30 p.m. ET

TV: FOX, 1 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 500 miles (200 laps)

Stage 1: 60 Laps

Stage 2: 60 Laps

Final Stage: 80 Laps

POST-RACE ANALYSIS