Chevrolet's dominance in pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 is unmatched.
The manufacturer has won a record 11 in a row. Bowman can tie Yarborough, Elliott, and Baker for the series lead in DAYTONA 500 poles.
Prior to this current streak of DAYTONA 500 poles by Chevrolet, the longest streak of consecutive DAYTONA 500 poles by a manufacturer was four straight by Pontiac from 1960-1963 and Chevrolet from 2008-2011.
In total, seven different manufacturers have won the pole for the DAYTONA 500, led by Chevrolet with 31, followed by Ford (12), Pontiac (eight), Mercury (five), Dodge (four), Oldsmobile (three), and Plymouth (two).
Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman will be hunting for three qualifying records this week leading into the DAYTONA 500. The first record would be: if he wins the pole on Wednesday, he will tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Bill Elliott (1985-87, 2001), Cale Yarborough (1968, ’70, ’78, ’84) and Buddy Baker (1969, ’73, ’79, ’80) for the all-time lead in DAYTONA 500 poles with four each. Bowman posted his third DAYTONA 500 pole last season (2018, 2021, 2023).
The next record Bowman will be aiming to accomplish will be extending his record of six straight starts on the front row for the DAYTONA 500 to seven. Bowman has not qualified worse than second in the Great American Race since 2018. Prior to Bowman reaching five straight, the previous record of consecutive front-row starts in the DAYTONA 500 was three, and it had occurred five times – Fireball Roberts (1961-1963), Richard Petty (1966-1968), Bill Elliott (1985-1987), Ken Schrader (1988-1990), Dale Earnhardt (1994-1996).
The third qualifying record dangling for Bowman to grab this week is if he wins the pole again this season, he will become just the sixth different driver to win consecutive DAYTONA 500 poles, joining Fireball Roberts (1961-1963), Buddy Baker (1979-1980), Bill Elliott (1985, 1986, 1987), Ken Schrader (1988, 1989, 1990) and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dawsonville's Chase Elliott (2016, 2017).
DAYTONA 500 pole winners from the last 11 seasons:
2023 -- Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
2022 -- Kyle Larson, Chevrolet
2021 -- Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
2020 -- Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet
2019 -- William Byron, Chevrolet
2018 -- Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
2017 -- Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
2016 -- Chase Elliott, Chevrolet
2015 -- Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
2014 -- Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
2013 -- Danica Patrick, Chevrolet
Hendrick Motorsports is seeking fourth consecutive DAYTONA 500 pole
Hendrick Motorsports leads the NASCAR Cup Series in DAYTONA 500 poles with a total of 16 poles for the Great American Race – 10 more than the next organization on the list – Richard Childress Racing, with six.
Hendrick Motorsports also holds the record for the most consecutive DAYTONA 500 poles, with five straight from 2015-2019. This weekend, Hendrick Motorsports will look to score their fourth consecutive DAYTONA 500 pole and their ninth in the last 10 DAYTONA 500s (2015-2024).
Nine different drivers have contributed to the Hendrick Motorsports’ record 16 DAYTONA 500 poles - Ken Schrader (1988, 1989, 1990), Jeff Gordon (1999, 2015), Jimmie Johnson (2002, 2008), Mark Martin (2010), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2011), Chase Elliott (2016, 2017), Alex Bowman (2018, 2021, 2023), William Byron (2019) and Kyle Larson (2022).
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of the BlueGreen Duels on Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. on AM 550, FM 102.9 and streaming online at accesswdun.com.
The NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this story.
