RELATED: Complete XFINITY lineup for Daytona
The leader of two of three practices, Ty Dillon continued to show speed at Daytona International Speedway, as he propelled his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at 181.844 mph to the top of the leaderboard during Saturday’s XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying. Dillon also led the opening round of qualifying with a fast lap of 181.796 mph around the 2.5-mile track.
The front three rows at Daytona will be comprised of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas and Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets. Starting outside Dillon is 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Daniel Suarez, who propelled his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing machine to the top of the speed charts with a fast lap of 181.408 mph.
Suarez’s JGR teammate Bobby Labonte, who is wheeling the No. 18 car this weekend, will roll off the grid third, while Richard Childress Racing‘s Austin Dillon, Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Erik Jones and Richard Childress Racing‘s Brendan Gaughan round out the first three rows, respectively.
Darrell Wallace Jr., who is driving a backup car after a spin during the first practice, showed plenty of speed during knockout qualifying, advancing to the final round. The Roush Fenway Racing driver will line up 12th for today’s PowerShares QQQ 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Reigning race winner Ryan Reed will line up 11th in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford beside his RFR teammate.
Mark Thompson, Mario Gosselin, Harrison Rhodes, Derrike Cope, Chris Fontaine, Derek White, Stanton Barrett and Mike Harmon did not qualify for the event. Trouble arose early during the first round for Harmon, who lost a left rear tire during his run, sending his No. 74 ride spinning and ultimately into the wall.
Ty’s brother Austin won the XFINITY Series pole last year in the season-opening event at Daytona.