DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Greg Biffle earned a surprise pole position Friday, knocking Carl Edwards from the top spot as the last car to go out in qualifying for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400.
Biffle (192.955 mph) won his first pole in nearly four years – his most recent coming in October 2012 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“It means a lot to us,” Biffle said. “What means even more is all these other teams coming up and congratulating us. We’ve been working really, really hard. Just really excited for the whole team. I’m just happy to be driving it.”
Edwards was second with an average speed of 192.748 mph, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one of Biffle’s Roush Fenway Racing teammates. It was a strong comeback for Busch, who had to go to a backup car after wrecking in morning practice.
Another driver from the Ford camp, Brad Keselowski, was fifth.
Austin Dillon, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.
Martin Truex Jr., who finished second in the Daytona 500, qualified 14th. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 16th and Tony Stewart – making his final Daytona start – was 19th.
Other notable drivers included Kevin Harvick (21st), Danica Patrick (22nd) and Daytona 500 polesitter Chase Elliott (24th).
Josh Wise failed to qualify for the race.
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SATURDAY'S LINEUP
1. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 192.955 mph.
2. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 192.748.
3. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 192.336.
4. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 192.320.
5. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 192.254.
6. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 192.254.
7. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 192.234.
8. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 192.160.
9. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 191.975.
10. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 191.865.
11. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 191.400.
12. (21) Ryan Blaney ‥, Ford, 191.253.
13. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 191.192.
14. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 191.115.
15. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 191.103.
16. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 191.071.
17. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 190.933.
18. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 190.783.
19. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 190.670.
20. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 190.476.
21. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 190.444.
22. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 190.440.
23. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 190.375.
24. (24) Chase Elliott ‥, Chevrolet, 190.359.
25. (34) Chris Buescher ‥, Ford, 190.275.
26. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 189.877.
27. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 189.693.
28. (35) David Gilliland, Ford, 189.470.
29. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 189.211.
30. (44) Brian Scott ‥, Ford, 188.964.
31. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 188.727.
32. (32) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 188.391.
33. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 188.344.
34. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford, 188.249.
35. (98) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 187.629.
36. (83) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 187.563.
37. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 187.480.
38. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, 187.426.
39. (55) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 187.025.
40. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 0.000.
Failed to qualify.
41. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 184.106.
