After placing second in last year's Daytona 500, Columbia native Carl Edwards will be starting this year's race in the pole position after finishing first in the qualifying event that occurred on Sunday afternoon. Only the pole position and outside pole position were determined on Sunday.
Edwards turned in a lap of 194.738 mph in the qualifier to take the top spot. Fellow Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle finished second in the event with a 194.087 mph speed, just behind Edwards' figure. Biffle will be in the second spot. Last year, Edwards qualified for the Daytona 500 in the No. 22 spot, but he managed to finish second in the race.
Here are the qualifying results – note: NOT the starting lineup – from Daytona 500 qualifying (non-guaranteed drivers in bold):
- Carl Edwards
- Greg Biffle
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Marcos Ambrose
- Casey Mears
- Jeff Gordon
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Trevor Bayne * (clinched berth in Daytona 500)
- Tony Stewart
- Mark Martin
- Jimmie Johnson
- AJ Allmendinger
- Paul Menard
- David Ragan
- Matt Kenseth
- Ryan Newman
- AJ Allmendinger
- Brad Keselowski
- Kevin Harvick
- Joey Logano
- Clint Bowyer
- Jeff Burton
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Kasey Kahne
- Tony Raines * (clinched berth in Daytona 500)
- David Stremme * (clinched berth in Daytona 500)
- Kyle Busch
- Jamie McMurray
- Danica Patrick
- Kenny Wallace
- Terry Labonte * (guaranteed spot via past champion's provisional)
- Dave Blaney
- Kurt Busch
- Elliott Sadler
- Michael Waltrip
- Joe Nemechek
- Denny Hamlin
- Regan Smith
- Michael McDowell
- Landon Cassill
- David Gilliland
- Bobby Labonte
- Bill Elliott
- Mike Wallace
- David Reutimann
- Robert Richardson Jr.
- Robby Gordon
- JJ Yeley