Martin Truex Jr. Sits on Pole For Daytona 500

After a long day of qualifying for the Great American Race, the field is set for Thursday's Gatorade Duels at Daytona.

No matter what happens in Thursday's race, the top two qualifiers locked their positions for Sunday's Daytona 500.

Mark Martin, NASCAR veteran qualifying for his first race with Hendrick Motorsports, qualified on the outside of the front row.

Martin drove most of his career with Roush Fenway Racing in the No. 6 Ford. The past two seasons, he drove for Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc., being a mentor to young rookies Regan Smith and Aric Almirola.

This year, Martin is returning to full time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition as he joins Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 5 Kelloggs/Carquest Chevrolet.

Sitting on the pole for the great American race is young Martin Truex Jr., from Mayetta, N.J.

Truex, driving for the newly merged Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, burned up the 2.5 mile superspeedway with a lap of 188.001 mph.

This was no doubt a big relief to the Earnhardt-Ganassi camp, as they have been through a very tough winter.

Last year, due to the economy, Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing had no choice but to join forces to become Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. This pole was no doubt a huge load off their shoulders.

“We had a tough winter, you know?” said Truex, who in seven prior attempts at Daytona had qualified higher than 10th just once.

“Everybody read about what was going on and there was a lot of uncertainty throughout part of the winter. I’m just proud of all my guys for all their hard work, for sticking with it.”

Probably the greatest story of qualifying was the performance of Stewart Haas Racing.

Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the '08 season to become co-owner of the struggling Haas CNC organization.

During the off-season, Stewart seemed to turn this team around, hiring Ryan Newman, former Daytona 500 winner, and getting new sponsorship to the team.

It seemed like a big challenge to turn this team around, but Stewart finished third in Saturday's Bud Shootout, impressing many.

The newfound success continued in qualifying as Newman qualified third, and Stewart in 10th.

The Gatorade Duels at Daytona, the two races that will determine the starting lineup for the Daytona 500, will air live on SPEED, starting at 2pm EST.