Ragan Surfs into Daytona Pole

David Ragan, filling in for Matt Tifft who is undergoing brain surgery to remove a tumor, will be fastest at Daytona for tonight’s Subway Firecracker 250 with a speed of 180.436 mph. Austin Dillon qualified second, followed by Erik Jones, Joey Logano, and Daniel Suarez.

In the first round of qualifying, teams were running about 10 to 15 mph slower than they were in the practice sessions this weekend. Qualifying was halted after 22 drivers to the afternoon thunderstorms in the Daytona Beach area, but resumed shortly after 3:30 pm eastern, a 70 minute delay. David Ragan was fastest in the first round with a speed of 181.302 mph followed by Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, and Brennan Poole. Carl Long, Derrike Cope, and Mike Harmon will be packing up their haulers as they did not qualify for the Subway Firecracker 250. Blake Koch and Brendan Gaughan are notable Xfinity drivers that did not make the top-12 in this round. Notable drivers advancing to the second round include Corey Lajoie and Benny Gordon.

The second round of qualifying went green without any delays. Corey Lajoie qualified 10th and Benny Gordon rounded out the round in the 12th position.

The Xfinity Series cars will be impounded before tonight’s race. Coverage begins at 7 pm eastern on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) and Motor Racing Network.