Dale Eanrhardt Jr. won the Pole Position for Sunday's Daytona 500, but a Wednesday crash means he will start from the back of the pack come racetime. Kurt Busch, winner of Thursday's first Gatorade Duel will start on the outside of Row 1, with Jeff Gordon sliding into the inside slot.
Jeff Burton, winner of the 2nd Gatorade Duel will start on the inside of Row 2, with Regan Smith starting on the outside.
The race will mark the 10th Anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt, and Dale Jr;, already one of the sports most popular drivers, was a sentimental favorite. Earnhardt Jr. has struggled of late, but looked to be in solid position after clocking the fatest lap at qualifying last weekend. An indication of the kind of luck Earnhardt has enjoyed came Wednesday, however, when Dale wrecked the car he qualified in meaning he would have to start a backup car from the back of the line.
The full starting grid is below:
*1 Dale Earnhardt Jr
2 Jeff Gordon
3 Kurt Busch
4 Jeff Burton
5 Regan Smith
6 Clint Bowyer
7 Kevin Harvick
8 Michael Waltrip
9 Matt Kenseth
10 Kyle Busch
11 Kasey Kahne
12 Brian Keselowski
13 Juan Pablo Montoya
14 Jamie McMurray
15 AJ Allmendinger
16 Brad Keselowski
17 Mark Martin
18 Denny Hamlin
19 Paul Menard
20 Martin Truex Jr.
21 Ryan Newman
22 Carl Edwards
23 Jimmie Johnson
24 David Reutimann
25 Tony Stewart
26 Greg Biffle
27 Brian Vickers
28 Robert Richardson Jr.
29 Bill Elliott
30 Robby Gordon
31 Bobby Labonte
32 Trevor Bayne
33 J.J. Yeley
34 David Ragan
35 Marcos Ambrose
36 Steve Wallace
37 Andy Lally
38 Joey Logano
39 David Gilliland
40 Travis Kvapil
41 Joe Nemechek
42 Dave Blaney
43 Terry Labonte
*Crashed qualifying car, will start from back