DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, started
his title defense in the best way possible, qualifying on the pole for the 64th Daytona 500
Wednesday night. Larson clocked in with a time of 49.680 in the 2nd round of qualifying, at an
average speed of 181.159 miles per hour.

Larson’s team, Hendrick Motorsports, has now won 7 out of the last 8 pole awards in the
Daytona 500.

Larson gave credit to his team for preparing such a fast car not just for him, but for his
teammates as well. “It’s really neat,” Larson said. “I mean anytime you are really proud of your team to get a pole here because this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers, qualifying at superspeedways.”

Larson led a Hendrick Motorsports sweep of the fastest 3 spots of the session. His teammate
Alex Bowman is guaranteed a starting spot on the front row for the 500, barring a catastrophe.
For Bowman, it’s the 5th straight season that the Tucson, Ariz. native will start either 1st or 2nd
in the Great American Race.

“It’s unbelievable,” Bowman said of the HMS record. “It just says so much about Hendrick
Motorsports and these guys. It’s cool to have the record but I feel like Greg Ives and the race
team should get the credit. The driver doesn’t do much.”

On the front of non-chartered teams, Noah Gragson and the Beard Motorsports #62 Chevy was
the fastest of the six. Gragson’s time guaranteed that he would make his NASCAR Cup Series
debut, just one year after a heartbreaking crash in the duels ended his chance to make the
race. Linda Beard, in addition to her children, are fielding the car in honor of her husband,
former team owner Mark Beard, who passed just before last year’s race.

“It’s really emotional being able to make the race after not making it last year,” Gragson said.
“Last year not making the race, makes this year that much more special. … I really hope
to make the Beard family proud this weekend.”

If you ask Linda Beard, however, Gragson’s already done just that.

“People that don’t race have no idea how much this means. .. when you are a team like us, we
love it,” Linda Beard said. “To do this, means so much to us, not only emotionally but just the
thrill of it.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, was the surprise qualification of former Indianapolis 500
and Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve for the European Team Hezeberg
operation. Villeneuve was the 2nd-fastest of the non-chartered teams and made the field,
despite troubling signs of the team being off the pace in the first two practice sessions Tuesday
night.

Vileneuve’s making the race is a landmark achievement, as the Canadian will be the first
Formula 1 World Champion to start the Daytona 500 (Mario Andretti won the Daytona 500
before he became the F1 World Champion). The 500 also marks Villeneuve’s first NASCAR
start since Sonoma in June 2013.

“Just to make the show is incredible,” Villeneuve said. “To be able to make such a big race at
such a high level is amazing. When I’m in a race car I don’t realize I’m 50 years old, which is
good. As long as it carries on like this, I can’t imagine myself stopping racing.”

While the front row has been set and two open spots have been claimed, the rest of the 500
field will be set by the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races Thursday night. The first duel will start
around 7 p.m. Eastern Time.