DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: Denny Hamlin leaned into the window of Christopher Bell’s profitable Toyota to congratulate his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate on beating him in a Daytona 500 qualifying race.
Hamlin then gave Bell detailed instructions to victory lane.
“Been to victory lane at Daytona a time or three,” Hamlin wrote on social media. “Had to show (Bell) the way.”
After a dismal displaying in time trials for Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500, the Toyota camp roared again and swept the 2 150-mile qualifying races Thursday evening that set the sphere for “The Great American Race.” The wins by Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing — the workforce co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan — and Bell marked the primary sweep of the Daytona qualifying races for Toyota since 2014.
Adding in Hamlin’s victory within the exhibition Clash on the Coliseum earlier this month, Toyota heads into the Daytona 500 an ideal 3 for 3 on the season in its new Camry XSE. With all 9 Toyota drivers certified for Sunday’s subject, the automaker is hoping to stay undefeated in 2024.
The 9 entries are essentially the most Toyota has had within the Daytona 500 since 2011.
Paul Doleshal, group supervisor of motorsports at Toyota North America, stated the automaker was “disturbed” when no Toyota driver cracked the highest 20 in time trials. Erik Jones had the quickest lap for the OEM at twenty second, and 7-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, the Legacy Motor Club co-proprietor and Jones’ teammate, was thirty fifth and compelled to race his method into the 40-automobile subject.
“I think we were a little bit disturbed — probably a strong word — but just surprised about the lack of qualifying speed,” Doleshal stated a day after the Toyota sweep. “But then felt that the car would race well, and that proved out, so we’re encouraged with that.”
Said Reddick: “This new Toyota Camry is truly a beast. It was a lot of fun to drive.”
Hamlin, who’s Toyota’s solely Daytona 500 winner with three earlier victories, might be going for a fourth and initially was listed because the race favourite by FanDuel Sportsbook. The odds Friday had tilted barely towards each Joey Logano, who will begin from the pole for Team Penske in a brand new Ford Dark Horse Mustang, and Kyle Busch, who crashed within the qualifying race and can begin thirty fourth in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Logano will attempt to proceed a scorching streak for workforce proprietor Roger Penske. The run began final May when Penske gained a report-extending nineteenth Indianapolis 500 with driver Josef Newgarden. He gained the Cup championship in November with Ryan Blaney, gained the Rolex 24 at Daytona sports activities automobile race final month for the primary time since 1969, and now has his first driver on the pole for the Daytona 500.
“There’s not a cooler race team that you can work for when it comes to motorsports in general. There’s not another motorsports team in America that’s decorated as much as Team Penske and what Roger Penske has done, whether it’s in NASCAR, sports cars, IndyCar, you name it, the guy’s been involved in all of it,” Logano stated. “One thing that’s in common with all of it is he wins. That’s where I want to be because of that reason, right? The guy wins, he does it right, he’s professional. There’s no corners ever cut.
“Roger Penske has never gotten a Daytona 500 pole. Not very often that you can actually do something for the first time for ‘The Captain.’”
The final driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole was Dale Jarrett in 2000.
Weather is predicted to play a job in Sunday’s race, with rain anticipated to hit Daytona on Saturday. The forecast is so poor that NASCAR on Friday determined to run the ARCA race scheduled for Saturday after Friday evening’s Truck Series race.
The closing follow session forward of the Daytona 500 was canceled Saturday morning due to rain on the monitor.
There’s much less likelihood of the Daytona 500 being prematurely altered from its scheduled Sunday afternoon begin time, although NASCAR moved up the Clash by a full a day earlier this month due to heavy rain in Los Angeles. Unless the climate circumstances are harmful, NASCAR is almost certainly anticipated to attend it out so long as doable Sunday earlier than deciding if the race must be postponed till Monday.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is the defending race winner for JTG-Daugherty Racing, and his victory prolonged a streak of three consecutive upset winners. Austin Cindric gained for Penske as a rookie in 2022 and Michael McDowell of tiny Front Row Motorsports gained in 2021.
McDowell was second-quickest in time trials and can begin alongside fellow Ford driver Logano on the entrance row when the inexperienced flag drops. There’s nice anticipation to see how each Ford and Toyota carry out in new automobiles designed for this season, whereas Chevrolet stays a thriller.
It’s been 10 years since Hendrick Motorsports gained its final Daytona 500 — in 2014 with Dale Earnhardt Jr. — and workforce proprietor Rick Hendrick desires the streak to finish because the workforce launches its fortieth anniversary season.
Hendrick driver Kyle Larson is 0 for 10 within the race — he joins Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski as former Cup champions caught in double-digit Daytona 500 skids — however confirmed each pace and a capability to push others to the entrance in his qualifying race.
Jeff Gordon, now the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, believes Larson has a stable likelihood at breaking by for the win. It’s an enormous season for Larson, who will try and grow to be the fifth driver in historical past to race in each the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the identical day, and a Daytona 500 win would definitely set the tone.
“It’s tougher than it’s ever been. It’s critical decision-making. Split-second decision-making can change whether you win the race or finish 10th or 15th,” Gordon stated. “We’re not asking our drivers to do anything different other than go back through the races, analyze what they did good and bad, and just try to put yourself in those positions.
“You’ve got to get yourself in position, be patient, and if you’re in the top five with five laps to go, you make the move you think can win you the race and hope it works out.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
