Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned the second fastest overall time of Sunday’s wild and woolly three-round Daytona 500 qualifying session to secure his spot in next Sunday’s Daytona 500, completing a lap of 202.334 mph (44.481 seconds) around the famed 2.5-mile superspeedway during the first round.
“The Roush Fenway guys brought some fast Fords down,” said Stenhouse. “This Ford has been at the top of the board any drafting practice. It’s just about timing it right. We got in that group that timed it right.”
All three Roush Fenway Fords advanced to the second round of the session, where Greg Biffle, Trevor Bayne and Stenhouse posted the 14th, 15th, and 18th fastest times. With the qualifying positions, Biffle and Stenhouse (even) will race in the second round of Thursday’s Duel 150 qualifying races, while Bayne will compete in the first duel.
Biffle and Bayne posted the 18th and 21st fastest laps of the first session, with 24 cars advancing to the second round.
Biffle is set to start seventh in the second Duel 150 on the inside of row four, with Stenhouse set to start behind him in ninth. Bayne will start eighth, outside of row four in the first Duel. The duels will determine the majority of the starting spots for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Stenhouse is guaranteed a spot in the field by virtue of turning one of the three fastest times in Sunday’s qualifying session and can start no worse than 36th
RFR PR
