The two Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet's of the No. 4 driven by Kevin Harvick and No. 14 driven by Brian Vickers failed post-qualifying tech inspection after the track bars were found to be out of compliance with the Sprint Cup Series rule book.
Elliott will lead the field to the green flag for next Sunday's 58th running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. At 20 years, two months and 17 days, Elliott is the youngest Daytona 500 pole-sitter in NASCAR history.
After drawing the pole position for the Sprint Unlimited, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet hoped to start his quest for a third Daytona 500 victory with a strong performance in the 75-lap exhibition race. Those hopes were quickly dashed on lap 44.
Denny Hamlin opens the season in victory lane. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 39 laps on his way to scoring the victory in the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway. He overcame an early race incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to win the race.
"I think the most frustrating part of it for me was not to finish this first race back. But these guys have done so much and worked hard and gave me a great car. Not gonna get 'em tonight. We’ll have to get 'em in the Daytona 500."
Joey Logano found his way to the top of the charts. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 45.934 and a speed of 195.933 mph. Brad Keselowski was second in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.954 and a speed of 195.848 mph.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. opens the NASCAR season at the top of the charts in the first Daytona 500 practice. The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.364 and a speed of 194.116 mph.
This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads down to Daytona International Speedway to kick off the annual ritual of Speedweeks. This consists of 10 days of activity that culminates on Feb. 21 with the 58th running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. But before we officially start the season, we need to get back into the racing mindset. To do that, we run the Sprint Unlimited.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will now have a "franchise" system that goes into effect this weekend. It's a change from the independent contractor model that had been in place since the sports inception.
