Tonight will mark the return of “The Clash” which consists of a 75 lap event, with two segments and a competition caution at lap 25. Brad Keselowski drew the pole yesterday, alongside him will be the defending Daytona 500 champion, Denny Hamlin.
Two-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is eligible for the event has chosen to not participate. Instead, it will be Alex Bowman who Jr said ”earned the spot.” Bowman was able to score the pole last November in Phoenix giving him the opportunity to run for the No. 88 team one last time as a substitute driver. However, Earnhatdt will be a part of telecast tonight on Fox Sports 1.
Joe Gibbs Racing showed tremendous speed last night in final practice by having all four cars in the top-five. Defending Daytona 500 champion, Hamlin, hopes to start where he left off last year by winning both The Clash and the Daytona 5oo. The 2012 Clash winner Kyle Busch will start from the 13th position, 2015 Clash winner Matt Kenseth will start from the 15th position. Possibly the most talked about story over the off-season was Carl Edwards’ departure that opened the seat to 2016 XFINITY Champion Daniel Suarez who will start from the 19th position.
Penske Racing’s two drivers, Brad Keselowski who is on the pole for tonight’s Clash and the 2015 Daytona 500 Champion, Logano, will start from the ninth position.
The 2016 Monster Energy Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will start from the sixth position tonight. However, The Clash has not been too kind to Johnson in the past. He has had DNF finishes the past couple of years. The 2016 Daytona 500 pole-sitter Chase Elliott will start from the 14th position in his first Clash appearance.
Stewart-Haas Racing who switched to Ford over the off-season will have three of its four drivers in The Clash. Kevin Harvick who will start from the seventh position, Kurt Busch will start 1oth, and Danica Patrick will start from the 12th position.
Tonight’s Clash can be seen live on Fox Sports 1 starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Starting Line Up by Row
Daytona International Speedway
The 39th Annual Advance Auto Parts Clash
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Fri, February 17, 2017 @ 02:48 PM Central
Track Race Record: Bill Elliott 02/08/87 12:15:10 197.802
Pos Car Driver Team Reason
1 2 Brad Keselowski SKF Ford
2 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
3 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Big Mac Chevrolet
4 3 Austin Dillon DOW Chevrolet
5 78 Martin Truex Jr. 5-hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota
6 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
7 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Beer Ford
8 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet
9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford
10 41 Kurt Busch Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford
11 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet
12 10 Danica Patrick TaxAct Ford
13 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
14 24 Chase Elliott NAPA Chevrolet
15 20 Matt Kenseth Interstate Batteries Toyota
16 19 Daniel Suarez ARRIS Toyota
17 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Click List Chevrolet
