Alex Bowman Rockets to Pole For Daytona 500; Record Sixth-Consecutive Daytona 500 Front Row Start

Untouchable.

Alex Bowman, who drives the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, has proven to be the most prolific qualifier in Daytona 500 history, as he scored his third-career pole on Wednesday night at Daytona International Speedway. Incredibly, Bowman's 2023 Daytona 500 pole will mark his sixth-consecutive front-row start in The Great American Race.

That is an all-time record. And one that is not likely to ever be matched.

RELATED: 2023 Daytona 500 Qualifying Results

Bowman, who also paced the opening round of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Daytona, destroyed the field in Round 2.

He paced the 2.5-mile superspeedway in 49.536 seconds, which equates to a 181.686 mph average speed. Bowman's next closest competitor? Over a tenth-and-a-half of a second back.

Following the monster lap, Bowman thanked his team while downplaying his importance to the historic string of Daytona 500 qualifying efforts.

"Just so proud of Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop. All of the guys. This Ally No. 48 Camaro is obviously really fast," Bowman explained. "I don't have a lot to do with qualifying here. Just fortunate to qualify some really fast race cars and really cool to see Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3."

While Bowman was humble about his latest pole run at Daytona, he has now achieved the front-row starting spot with two different crew chiefs, and two different car numbers. And he is utilizing the same equipment as his teammates, none of which has equaled his impressive tally in Daytona 500 qualifying.

It was a historic night for Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports, but it was also an impactful night for Blake Harris, who took over as crew chief for Bowman and the No. 48 team in the offseason. The pairing of Bowman and Harris is off to an excellent start.

The pole is great, but Bowman is now looking ahead to attempting to collect his first Harley J. Earl trophy.

"That's the trick. We've obviously not been able to do that for the last five years. So, just trying to make the right decisions and transfer everything over to race trim for Sunday the best we can," Bowman said.

For Hendrick Motorsports, it was a clean sweep of the front row as Kyle Larson clocked in a lap that was 0.172 sec. behind Bowman's time to secure the second starting spot.

The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro joked that Bowman has longer legs than him, which allows Bowman to hit the gas pedal harder.

"Really cool for the No. 48 team, that's awesome. What is that six years in a row -- I think -- on the front row? That's pretty incredible. Hats off to that team," Larson stated. "Congrats to Alex. He has a lot longer legs than me, so he can push the gas pedal down further. But no, proud of everybody on the No. 5 team as well.

While Bowman and Larson know where they will start in Sunday's Daytona 500, provided they don't damage their cars in Thursday's Duels, the remaining 38 starting spots in the 2023 Daytona 500 are still up for grabs.

Aside from Bowman and Larson, drivers will earn a starting position based on their finishes in the Bluegreen Vacation Duel qualifiers on Thursday night.

Jimmie Johnson (23rd in qualifying) and Travis Pastrana (25th in qualifying) were the two fastest Open cars, which means so long as their cars start in the Duels, they have secured a position in the field for the Daytona 500.

There are two positions left in the Daytona 500. Zane Smith, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, and Conor Daly will duke it out to see which two will advance and which two will watch Sunday's race on FOX.

Thursday's NASCAR Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona are set to begin at 7:00 PM ET. Television coverage of the Duels will be provided by FS1.

Photo Credit: Craig White / TobyChristie.com