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NASCAR Cup Daytona: It's All Front Row for Front Row Motorsports

Michael McDowell beat teammate Todd Gilliland to pole position with a lap of 49.136s around the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Both drivers are facing a must-win situation and led a legion of Fords at the front of the field, sweeping the first three rows.

For McDowell, this is his fourth pole of the season and his third on a drafting track. He had zero poles in the previous 16 years of his Cup career, but is now making the most of FRM's Tier 1 status within the Ford group and a technical alliance with Team Penske.

"I'm just so proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports," said McDowell. "To have both cars on the front row is just amazing. It's just a testament to how hard everyone is working. We know we have two shots left here, but this is a big weekend for us. To have both cars up front is really important. Hopefully, we can stay up front, control the race, and give ourselves a fighting chance to get into these playoffs."

Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports, Love's Travel Stops Ford Mustang (Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images)

Gilliland was 0.098s shy of earning his first-career pole. Previously, he best start was third at Talladega. "I wanted it extremely bad," he told NBC. "We definitely have a car that's fast enough to go win this race tomorrow."

Penske's Joey Logano will start third, followed by the Stewart-Haas trio of Ryan Preece, Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe. William Byron was the top-qualifying Chevrolet driver in seventh, breaking up the Blue Oval party. Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott filled out the remainder of the top-ten.

Looking at the drivers in the midst of the playoff points battle, Chris Buescher was the top qualifier in 13th.

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH
1 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 1

49.136

  183.165
2 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 1

+0.098

49.234

0.098 182.801
3 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 1

+0.222

49.358

0.124 182.341
4 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 1

+0.230

49.366

0.008 182.312
5 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 1

+0.261

49.397

0.031 182.197
6 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 1

+0.262

49.398

0.001 182.194
7 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 1

+0.299

49.435

0.037 182.057
8 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 1

+0.315

49.451

0.016 181.998
9 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 1

+0.342

49.478

0.027 181.899
10 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 1

+0.382

49.518

0.040 181.752
11 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 1

+0.338

49.556

0.002 181.613
12 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 1

+0.357

49.575

0.019 181.543
13 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 1

+0.366

49.584

0.009 181.510
14 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 1

+0.369

49.587

0.003 181.499
15 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 1

+0.394

49.612

0.025 181.408
16 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 1

+0.396

49.614

0.002 181.400
17 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 1

+0.459

49.677

0.063 181.170
18 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 1

+0.472

49.690

0.013 181.123
19 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 1

+0.504

49.722

0.032 181.006
20 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 1

+0.506

49.724

0.002 180.999
21 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 1

+0.523

49.741

0.017 180.937
22 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 1

+0.549

49.767

0.026 180.843
23 A. HillRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 33 Chevrolet 1

+0.551

49.769

0.002 180.835
24 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 1

+0.554

49.772

0.003 180.825
25 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 1

+0.556

49.774

0.002 180.817
26
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
54 Toyota 1

+0.574

49.792

0.018 180.752
27 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 1

+0.576

49.794

0.002 180.745
28 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 1

+0.602

49.820

0.026 180.650
29
P. RetzlaffBEARD MOTORSPORTS
62 Chevrolet 1

+0.603

49.821

0.001 180.647
30
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
71 Chevrolet 1

+0.626

49.844

0.023 180.563
31 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 1

+0.629

49.847

0.003 180.552
32 S. van GisbergenKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 1

+0.664

49.882

0.035 180.426
33 C. WareRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 1

+0.706

49.924

0.042 180.274
34 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 1

+0.709

49.927

0.003 180.263
35 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 1

+0.839

50.057

0.130 179.795
36 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 1

+0.847

50.065

0.008 179.766
37
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
77 Chevrolet 1

+0.861

50.079

0.014 179.716
38 B. McLeodLIVE FAST MOTORSPORTS 78 Chevrolet 1

+1.503

50.721

0.642 177.441
39 J. GaseNY RACING TEAM 44 Chevrolet 1

+2.177

51.395

0.674 175.114
40 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 0

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