CONCORD, N.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports produced four top 10s in DAYTONA 500 qualifying Sunday afternoon.
Alex Bowman, who won the DAYTONA 500 pole two years ago, will start on the outside pole after placing second. His position is locked in for the start of the DAYTONA 500.
His second-place qualifying position marks the third consecutive year he will start on the front row at Daytona and marks the sixth year in a row a Hendrick Motorsports driver has started on the front row.
"We've been on the front row for the last two years and we've had good runs -- just haven't really finished them off," Bowman said after the front row was set. "Hopefully we can do that this year."
Bowman's second-place effort also marks the 26th time a Hendrick Motorsports driver has started on the front row for the DAYTONA 500.
Chase Elliott placed third in the qualifying race, while veteran Jimmie Johnson placed fourth behind Elliott.
William Byron, last year's pole winner, placed eighth.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned pole at the DAYTONA 500 for the first time in his career.
"This place is so cool. You walk in and, man, it's the DAYTONA 500," Bowman said." There's nothing like it. There's so many people and (it's) such a big event. To lead laps here is really neat, but if we were able to go win, that'd be just amazing."
Elliott, Johnson and Byron will have the chance to either maintain their positions or move up in the starting lineup Thursday, when they participate in the Duels.
The first Duel will set the inside row of the Daytona 500 starting grid, while the second Duel will determine the outside row. For example, the winner of the first Duel would start third in the DAYTONA 500 behind the pole sitter. However, if the winner of the first duel is the pole sitter, the the Duel’s second-place finisher would line up third.
Much like stage finishes during regular-season races, the top-10 finishers in each Duel will be awarded points. The winner of each Duel will earn 10 points, while second-place finishers earns nine points, and so on until the 10th-place finishers, who will earn one point.
Both Duels will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio starting at 7 p.m. ET.