Hendrick Motorsports might not be having the best season as a team in 2018, but you wouldn’t know that by looking over the qualifying results for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Alex Bowman won the pole for the Daytona 500 to start the 2018 NASCAR season. He nearly did it again for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, but he was beaten to the punch on Friday evening by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott.
Sporting a bit of a throwback look with the Hooter’s colors on his No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott will start from the pole on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, still searching for his first ever NASCAR Cup Series debut. Bowman joins him in Row 1, while Jimmie Johnson is close behind, starting fourth. Ryan Newman (seventh) and Austin Dillon (10th) round out the Chevy contingent in the top 10, while Brad Keselowski (third) was the fastest of five Fords in the first five rows.
Martin Truex Jr. paced all the Toyotas in the field in an uncharacteristically slow 13th, though it arguably matters less at Daytona than any other track if a whole manufacturer is lacking single-car speed. The other two big 2018 winners, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, will begin the evening fifth and 15th, respectively.
For the first time all season, more than 40 cars attempted to qualify for a Cup Series race, meaning one car did not make the show. The 92 of Timothy Peters was the slowest of 41 entrants and will not be in the field on Saturday night.
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Coverage of the Coke Zero 400 is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET on NBC, with the green flag expected at 7:23 p.m.
2018 Coke Zero Sugar 400 starting grid for Daytona International Speedway
- Chase Eliott – No. 9 Hooter’s Chevrolet
- Alex Bowman – No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet
- Brad Keselowski – No. 2 Stars, Stripes, and Lites Ford
- Jimmie Johnson – No. 48 Lowe’s for Pros Chevrolet
- Kevin Harvick – No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford
- Ryan Newman – No. 31 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s Chevrolet
- Michael McDowell – No. 34 K-LOVE Radio Ford
- Clint Bowyer – No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford
- Austin Dillon – No. 3 American Ethanol E15 Chevrolet
- Joey Logano – No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford
- Ryan Blaney – No. 12 Bodyarmor Ford
- Martin Truex Jr. – No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour Energy Toyota
- Kyle Larson – No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet
- Kyle Busch – No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota
- Brendan Gaughan – No. 62 Beard Oil Distributing/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
- Denny Hamlin – No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota
- William Byron – No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet
- Ty Dillon – No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet
- Trevor Bayne – No. 6 Performance Plus Ford
- David Ragan – No. 38 Shriners Hospital for Children Ford
- Bubba Wallace – No. 43 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet
- Kurt Busch – No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford
- AJ Allmendinger – No. 47 Kroger Click List Chevrolet
- Chris Buescher – No. 37 Kleenex Wet Wipes Chevrolet
- Aric Almirola – No. 10 Smithfield Ford
- Jamie McMurray – No. 1 DC Solar Chevrolet
- Kasey Kahne – No. 95 Thorne Wellness Chevrolet
- Erik Jones – No. 20 BuyAToyota.com Toyota
- Paul Menard – No. 21 Menards/Moen Ford
- Matt DiBenedetto – No. 32 Zynga Poker Ford
- Daniel Suarez – No. 19 Arris Toyota
- Ross Chastain – No. 15 Caddy’s Beach Bar Restaurants Chevrolet
- Jeffrey Earnhardt – No. 7 Nine Line Foundation Chevrolet
- D.J. Kennington – No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
- Joey Gase – No. 00 Sparks Inc. Chevrolet
- Landon Cassill – No. 99 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet
- Corey LaJoie – No. 72 Dragonchain Chevrolet
- Ray Black Jr. – No. 51 Jacob Companies/Prefund Capital Chevrolet
- JJ Yeley – No. 23 Steakhouse Elite Toyota