Roush Yates Engines Daytona 500 qualifying report

Roush Yates Engines Lead the Field in Daytona
Edwards and Biffle will start on Front Row for 54th Annual Daytona 500

Front row for the Daytona 500: pole winner Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing Ford with second place Greg Biffle, Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Daytona Beach, FL (February 19, 2012) Roush Yates powered Fords were at the top of the speed charts during the first two Daytona 500 practices and continued their streak by locking in the front row starting spots during Sunday's Daytona 500 qualifying.

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fastenal Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, ran 194.738 miles per hour to win the pole position, his first in "The Great American Race". Teammate and outside pole qualifier Greg Biffle's lap was one tenth of a second slower at 194.087 miles per hour.

"To have the two fastest cars at Daytona be Fords is a testament to Doug Yates and the guys who engineered these cars over the winter," Edwards said. "Coming down here, I didn't really consider the pole something that was a possibility. This is huge."

In all, four Fords ran in the top five during Sunday's qualifying session. Marcos Ambrose in his No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports qualified fourth and Casey Mears, who recently switched to Ford power over the off-season with Germain racing, qualified fifth.

In the 500's unique qualifying format, only the first two spots are locked in by qualifying. The rest of the 43-car field will be determined by Thursday's twin 150-mile qualifying races, qualifying speeds and provisional starting spots. Roush Yates Engine driver Trevor Bayne, who is currently outside the top 35 in owner's points, locked himself into the race on Sunday with an impressive ninth-place run.

"To come out here and sit on the front row with our engines for the Daytona 500 is awesome," said Doug Yates, Chief Engine Builder at Roush Yates Engines. "Everyone at the shop has worked really hard to get this new fuel injected FR9 engine just right, and I'm proud to see four of our engines run in the top five! I can't wait for Sunday's race."

Roush Yates Engines are also tearing it up in the dirt world this week. Josh Richards used his Roush Yates powered Dirt Late Model engine to dominate the field in Friday's Bubba Army Winter Nationals race in Ocala, FL and ten late models using Roush Yates engines will be competing in the World of Outlaws DIRTcar Nationals this week in Volusia County, FL, including last year's winner Scott Bloomquist.