The first part of the 2024 Daytona 500 has concluded and Joey Logano will be starting The Great American Race from pole position on Sunday. Michael McDowell will start the race from P2 after what was a tight battle between the two drivers in qualifying on Wednesday. It was a historic moment, as for the first time in 11 years, a Chevrolet would not be on the front row starting the race.

Although it was Team Penske who won the Cup Series championship last year, the driver of their #22 car will have something to prove going into this year, especially considering how he was eliminated from the title picture last season. Logano sure has gotten off to a good start in that regard and will be hoping to convert pole position into a win on Sunday.

Joey Logano hails his team for the lightning-fast car

It was a matter of a few milliseconds between the two-time Cup Series champion and the winner of the Indianapolis race last season. Michael McDowell ran his first lap before Joey Logano and he put up an impressive time of 49.536 at the end of his run. It was good enough for provisional pole. But then, the Team Penske star absolutely smoked the asphalt on the Daytona International Speedway to gain 18 100ths of a second over the Front Row Motorsports star. He finished P1 with a time of 49.465.

There was a lot of jubilation in the #22 camp after the result as Logano’s crew chief raised his fist into the air to celebrate his team’s achievement. Michael McDowell and the #34 team were disappointed but they were still happy with a P2 result. The Front Row Motorsports star will have every opportunity to pass Logano into the first corner and he will be looking to do so on Sunday.

Speaking to the media after the session, the driver of the #22 heaped praise on his team’s efforts. “This is all about the team. Honestly, I’d like to take credit, but I can’t today. The guys have done such an amazing job working on these cars. The superspeedway qualifying is 100 percent the car,” he said as per Toby Christie.

“There’s only so much the driver can do, so I’m really proud of them. That’s a big win for our team, for everyone at Team Penske, Ford with the new Dark Horse Mustang. Being able to come down here and put it on the pin and finally someone else wins the pole here. That part feels good. I’ve never even been close to a superspeedway pole before, so this is my first pole on a speedway. It couldn’t be at a cooler event, obviously at the Daytona 500. I’m proud of the team,” Logano added.

For Michael McDowell, it will all be about channeling the form he had three years ago when he won the Daytona 500. The 39-year-old has been in the sport for a long time and has a ton of experience at his behest, which will come in handy when the green flag falls on Sunday.

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Winning pole still one of Michael McDowell’s goals this season

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Much like Joey Logano, the driver of the #34 Front Row Motorsports car was full of praise for his team’s efforts. FRM is not the biggest team in the NASCAR Cup Series. So for them to have such an incredible result after the first part of qualifying will come as a massive relief as they will now focus on the main race on Sunday.

“This is the best that we have ever qualified down here. We’ve always had fast Ford Mustangs, but we really put an emphasis on seeing how much speed we could get out of it. We know that we can work on it Thursday and Friday, and all of those things. A pole is something that is on the bucket list this year to try and get done. I don’t have a Cup Series pole, so I thought we had a good shot at that one,” the motorsports veteran said after the session.

It will be interesting to see how the two Ford cars start the 66th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday. One thing is for certain; neither of them will give the other an inch and it will surely be a race that will keep fans on the edge of their seats.

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