DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Despite an hour-long weather delay that stalled out his momentum, David Ragan was finally able to complete a clean sweep of NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying on Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Ragan, subbing for Matt Tifft in the No. 18 Surface Sunscreen/Rugged Maniac Toyota Camry, led both rounds of knockout qualifying and posted a time of 49.904 seconds (180.346 mph) on his second single-lap run to grab his third-career Coors Light Pole Award in the XFINITY ranks.
The pole is Ragan’s first in the series since November of 2007, when he topped qualifications at Homestead-Miami Speedway driving for Roush Fenway Racing.
On this day, however, Ragan’s focus was on the young driver he is replacing in the Subway Firecracker 250 (scheduled for 7:45, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM). Tifft is undergoing brain surgery today for removal of a slow-growing tumor, discovered during a scan for a back issue that kept him out of the car at Iowa Speedway last month.
“First off, I know Matt wishes he could be here today,” Ragan said with a smile. “This (pole) is definitely for him. We’re thinking about him and hope he’s doing well and can tune in tonight. I’m trying to take care of his race car and so far I’ve been able to do that.”
“This Joe Gibbs Racing team – they’re good. It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to come down, drive for these guys and have a little bit of fun. Daytona is always a challenging race, trying to dodge the wrecks and anticipate how the ending is gonna work out, but we’ve got a good starting spot and hopefully we can have a good result for everyone that’s here tonight.”
Ragan will be flanked by Austin Dillon coming to the green flag, after Dillon posted a time of 49.941 seconds (180.213 mph) on his lap in the No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Ragan’s teammate, XFINITY Chase Grid leader Erik Jones, will start third (49.994/180.022) and was the final driver to crack the 180 mile per hour barrier in the final round of time trials.
Joey Logano and a third JGR entry, driven by Daniel Suarez, rounded out the ‘Fast Five’.
Darrell Wallace Jr., Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole, Elliott Sadler, Corey LaJoie, Ty Dillon and Benny Gordon were the remainder of the 12 drivers who advanced to the final round and will fill out the front six rows of the starting grid — with LaJoie and Gordon’s runs representing impressive showings for JGL Racing and TriStar Motorsports, respectively.
Brandon Jones, who was among the early qualifiers to go out and sat inside the top dozen for much of the first round, was bumped out by Suarez – the next-to-last car to go out.
Jones will start 13th as a result, on a lap of 50.427 seconds (178.476 mph).
Other notables who missed out on the run for the pole included Ryan Reed (14th), February Daytona winner Chase Elliott (15th), Brendan Gaughan (17th), 2000 series champion Jeff Green (18th), Aric Almirola (23rd) and rookie Ryan Preece (28th).
With 43 cars going for 40 starting positions, Carl Long, Derrike Cope and Mike Harmon were the three drivers who failed to qualify for the event.
The Subway Firecracker 250 is slated to take the green flag at 7:45 p.m. ET.
RESULTS: NASCAR XFINITY Series; Coors Light Pole Qualifying; Daytona International Speedway; July 1, 2016
- David Ragan
- Austin Dillon
- Erik Jones
- Joey Logano
- Daniel Suarez
- Darrell Wallace Jr.
- Justin Allgaier
- Brennan Poole
- Elliott Sadler
- Corey LaJoie
- Ty Dillon
- Benny Gordon
- Brandon Jones
- Ryan Reed
- Chase Elliott
- Blake Koch
- Brendan Gaughan
- Jeff Green
- J.J. Yeley
- Mark Thompson
- Justin Marks
- Mario Gosselin
- Aric Almirola
- Ross Chastain
- Joe Nemechek
- Dakoda Armstrong
- Spencer Gallagher
- Ryan Preece
- Morgan Shepherd
- Ryan Sieg
- Bobby Gerhart
- Jeremy Clements
- David Starr
- Joey Gase
- Scott Lagasse Jr.
- Ray Black Jr.
- Ryan Ellis
- Alex Guenette
- Garrett Smithley
- B.J. McLeod
DNQ: Carl Long, Derrike Cope, Mike Harmon
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
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