NASCAR Cup: Kevin Harvick on pole for Daytona road-course race

By AMANDA VINCENT

NASCAR’s new formula for determining race starting grids that includes owner points and finishes and fastest laps from the previous race has put Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, 2020’s winningest drivers, on the front row for Sunday’s GoBowling.com 235 NASCAR Cup Series race on the road course at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Harvick, after winning both races of a Cup Series weekend doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn last weekend, will be on the pole with Hamlin alongside in second.

Harvick and Hamlin will lead the 39-car field into the unknown, as Sunday’s race, the first for a NASCAR stock-car series on the course, will take the green flag without practice.

“Me leading everyone into turn one at Daytona could be interesting, because I have no freaking clue where I’m going,” Harvick said.

The second row of Sunday’s starting grid will be occupied by two of Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates. Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch will line up in the second row in the third and fourth positions. The JGR trio will be the proverbial meat in a Ford sandwich between Harvick and fellow-Ford driver Joey Logano in the fifth starting positions. Logano will share the third row with one of Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, Aric Almirola.

“I feel like, as a driver, I’ve become better at road courses over the years,” Almirola said. “The simulator technology Ford provides us gives me an opportunity to improve my road-course skills. This will be the first road-course outing together for me and (crew chief) Mike Bugarewicz, so I’m excited to see if we can continue this momentum at a new venue.” 

Chase Elliott will be the Chevrolet driver closest to the front for the green flag, starting in the seventh position.

Below, is the complete starting grid for the GoBowling.com 235 at Daytona:

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Posted by ard2012 on August 14, 2020. Filed under Breaking News,Cup Series,Featured,NASCAR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry