VIDEO: Bowyer On Daytona Pole

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VIDEO: Bowyer On Daytona Pole

Clint Bowyer will lead the field to the green in the DRIVE4COPD 300...

Tom Jensen | Posted February 18, 2011 Daytona Beach, FL

Clint Bowyer won the pole for the NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Clint Bowyer used a late draw to capture the pole for Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Driving a Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, Bowyer claimed the pole with a lap of 180.621 mph around the fabled 2.5-mile oval.

Qualifying on the outside of Row 1 was Landon Cassill, who drove James Finch’s Chevrolet around the track at 180.600 mph.

“I’m just really proud of (crew chief) David Hyder and the Rheem Chevrolet,” said Bowyer.

The second row was all JR Motorsports, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualifying at 180.592 mph, just ahead of Danica Patrick’s 180.480 mph.

“We put a lot of hard work and I lot of testing in in the offseason,” said Patrick’s crew chief, Tony Eury Jr. “We knew we had to shine today.”

Patrick was thrilled by her career-best qualifying effort in 14 NNS starts.

“I just held it flat out around the bottom,” Patrick said. “I’m excited.”

Row 3 will be Justin Allgaier in a Turner Motorsports Chevrolet and Joey Logano in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Completing the top 10 were Trevor Bayne, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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Tom Jensen

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