Front Row Teammates: McDowell, Gilliland Take Top-Two Spots in Daytona Qualifying
There was a time back in Front Row Motorsports' humble beginnings when fans snickered about the organization's team name. It was so unrealistic back then that the team would ever reach a pole position, that the name just seemed kind of funny. Fast forward to the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, and nobody is laughing now. Led by Michael McDowell, who took the pole position, the race team has officially secured its first-ever front row sweep.
McDowell turned an incredible lap time of 49.136 seconds (183.165 mph) in the final round of Friday's qualifying session, which allowed the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang to notch his fourth pole of the year and of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona Starting Lineup
Following his pole-winning run, McDowell credited his team, and the Ford Perfomance family for bringing really fast race cars to Daytona Beach for this weekend's race.
"I'm just so proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports. To have both cars on the front row is amazing, just a testament to how hard everyone is working at Front Row," McDowell stated. "We know we got two shots left here. This is a big weekend for us, so to have both cars up front is really important. So, hopefully, we can stay up front, control the race, and give ourselves a fighting chance to get ourselves into the Playoffs."
Todd Gilliland, who drives the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, was the only driver in McDowell's zip code in the qualifying session, as he clocked in 0.098 seconds off of McDowell's pole-winning pace.
While McDowell was elated to grab another pole position, he felt bad that it came at the expense of his teammate's elusive first career pole.
"I feel for Todd [Gilliland]," McDowell explained. "I know he wanted his first pole so bad and this is our [fourth] this year, so it would have been nice to share the love but really proud of the No. 38 team and those guys have fought hard this year and I know that their time is coming, but today is awesome too."
The duo backed up their speed in the opening round of the session, where they actually clocked in with the exact same lap time to lead the field into the final round of the session.
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang, will start from the third position, and he'll be joined by Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang, in Row 2. Preece is looking for redemption from his frightening barrel roll flip in this event a season ago.
Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe would lock down the fifth and sixth starting spots to make it a Ford Performance sweep of the top-six spots in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying.
William Byron, who won the season-opening Daytona 500, was the first non-Ford, as he qualified seventh in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Austin Cindric will start Saturday night's race from the eighth position.
One thing to keep an eye on in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is the regular-season championship battle. With two races remaining in the regular season, the battle is between Tyler Reddick, the point leader, Chase Elliott (10 points back), and Kyle Larson (32 points back).
Larson qualified the best of the three in ninth, while Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, will start 10th. Reddick, who won last week at Michigan to take the point lead, will start last of the three drivers in the conversation for the crown in 25th.
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin will start Saturday's 400-mile race at Daytona from the 19th position.
Hamlin left last weekend's FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan third in the championship standings, and was very much alive in the regular season championship fight. On Friday, NASCAR penalized the driver and his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team 75 points for a sealed engine infraction. The penalty, which stemmed from an engine used in his car during his race win at Bristol in April, will effectively end his bid to capture the regular-season championship.
As for the drivers fighting for the final place in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field, they'll be peppered near the middle of the starting lineup. Chris Buescher (+16 points to the cutline) will start 13th, Bubba Wallace (-1 point) 19th, Ross Chastain (+1 point) 24th, and Ty Gibbs (+39 points) 24th.
Erik Jones, the driver of the No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota, suffered a weird issue on his qualifying lap as his car was bouncing wildly down the backstretch. The suspension issue caused Jones to bail on his qualifying lap.
A rough ride for @Erik_Jones, who will not complete his qualifying lap in the first round. pic.twitter.com/YmDZG6Xbq3
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 23, 2024
As a result, the 2018 winner of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, will start dead-last in the 40-car field on Saturday night at Daytona.
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.