Joey Logano, Michael McDowell lead Ford sweep of Daytona 500 front row - ESPN

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ford swept the front row in qualifying for the Daytona 500 with former race winners Joey Logano and Michael McDowell shocking powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports.

«This is all about the team. I'd like to take credit, but I can't. Superspeedway qualifying is 100% the car,» said Logano, who won the first Daytona 500 pole for Team Penske. «Finally, someone else wins the pole.»

Hendrick drivers had won the pole at Daytona in eight of the past nine years, but the team's highest qualifier Wednesday night was Kyle Larson in third.

The entire night, in which only the front row for Sunday's season-opening race was set, belonged to Ford. Four drivers in the manufacturer's new Dark Horse advanced to the final round-of-10 qualifying portion with Logano and McDowell sweeping the front row.

Logano turned a lap of 181.947 mph as the 2015 Daytona 500 winner earned his first pole since Atlanta last year. It was also Logano's first pole on a superspeedway.

McDowell, the 2021 winner, qualified second at 181.686 for Front Row Motorsports.

Larson was third in a Chevrolet after Hendrick drivers had won three straight Daytona 500 poles heading into Wednesday night. Austin Cindric in a Ford for Penske was fourth and followed by Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron in Camaros.

Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch qualified seventh and eighth in Chevrolets, followed by Ross Chastain in a Chevy for Trackhouse Racing and Harrison Burton in a Ford for Wood Brothers Racing. Dillon won the Daytona 500 in 2018.

Anthony Alfredo of Beard Motorsports and David Ragan in a special third car for RFK Racing took two of the four open spots in the field based on speed. Jimmie Johnson, a two-time Daytona