Daytona 500 Qualifying 2019 Results and Latest Driver Odds

The Daytona 500 takes place Sunday, and on Thursday night, the starting order for this year's Great American Race will be set.

After qualifying occurred last Sunday, the Gander RV Duels at Daytona will determine the starting order beyond the front row. The first duel will feature the odd-numbered finishers from qualifying and set the order for the inside row. The second duel will feature the even-numbered ones and set the outside row.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman secured their starting spots by posting the top two lap times during the final round of qualifying. Their other teammates, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott, posted the third- and fourth-fastest times, meaning it will be all-Hendrick front rows for both of Thursday night's duel races.

The winner of Duel 1 will start third on Sunday and the Duel 2 winner will start fourth, presuming Byron and Bowman don't win.

Once the final starting order is set, it will be clear which drivers will have some work to do on Sunday to make it to the front of the field.

Qualifying Results

1. William Byron (46.319 seconds, 194.305 mph)

2. Alex Bowman (46.355 seconds, 194.154 mph)

Duel 1 Starting Order

1. William Byron

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Daniel Hemric

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Paul Menard

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Chris Buescher

13. Ryan Newman

14. Ryan Truex

15. Ryan Preece

16. Matt Dibenedetto

17. Bubba Wallace

18. Matt Tifft

19. Parker Kligerman

20. Landon Cassill

21. Cody Ware

Duel 2 Starting Order

1. Alex Bowman

2. Chase Elliott

3. Joey Logano

4. Clint Bowyer

5. Austin Dillon

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Erik Jones

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Aric Almirola

10. Kurt Busch

11. David Ragan

12. Michael McDowell

13. Casey Mears

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Brendan Gaughan

16. Kyle Larson

17. Ty Dillon

18. Ross Chastain

19. Corey LaJoie

20. B.J. McLeod

21. Joey Gase

Top Odds to Win Daytona 500 (via OddsShark)

Brad Keselowski (+700; bet $100 to win $700)

Joey Logano (+800)

Kevin Harvick (+1000)

Clint Bowyer (+1000)

Denny Hamlin (+1000)

Aric Almirola (+1200)

Kyle Busch (+1200)

Chase Elliott (+1200)

Ryan Blaney (+1400)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+1400)

Martin Truex Jr. (+1400)

Kurt Busch (+1600)

Alex Bowman (+2000)

Daniel Suarez (+2000)

Jimmie Johnson (+2000)

William Byron (+2000)

Moving Past Clash Incident?

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Although the Daytona 500 is the first Monster Energy Cup Series race of the 2019 season, there has already been some competitive action. And there was already some controversy.

During Sunday's Advance Auto Parts Clash after Daytona qualifying, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson had a late run-in that ended with Menard as part of a 15-car wreck. Johnson, who said he inadvertently spun Menard, went on to win the rain-shortened race.

Menard led 51 of the 59 laps during the non-points exhibition before the late incident ended his day. On Wednesday, both drivers appeared to clear the air.

"We're moving on," Menard told reporters. "What’s done is done. We're not looking in the rear-view mirror on that one, just moving on."

"There's always lessons to learn going back and looking at the tape and talking to someone about those things," Johnson said, "but I think where he and I stand, I'm sure he wasn't happy after the race, but he knew it wasn't intentional, and it was more of racing thing than anything."

It will be interesting to see if this conflict has truly been resolved, or if it will lead to anything more either during the Daytona 500 or in the future.