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Daytona 500 Starting Grid: Dale Earnhardt Jr Wins Pole, Will Start From The Back

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

Photographs by spatulated, Triple Tri, and chrischappelear used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.