Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Daniel Hemric Wins Xfinity Series Pole at Daytona

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For the fourth straight year, a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet will lead the field to green in the NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona.

With a lap of 47.451 seconds, 189.310 mph, Daniel Hemric, who finished fourth in the championship standings last season, scored his second career pole. He will be joined on the front row in the Powershares QQQ 300 by another Chevrolet in Kyle Larson.

The remainder of the top-12 went to Matt Tifft, Joey Logano, Spencer Gallagher, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex, Michael Annett, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, and Elliott Sadler, giving Chevrolet 10 of the top-12 starters.

Qualifying wasn’t without its drama as pre-qualifying inspection issues came down for the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team of Austin Dillon and the No. 74 team of Mike Harmon. Issues with the rear suspension were discovered on Dillon’s car, while Harmon’s team failed the Optical Scanning Station numerous times.

The crew chiefs for both teams were ejected, along with the car chief from the No. 3 car, and will have to be replaced by someone already on their team roster. They were also not allowed to participate in qualifying.

Dillon will start at the rear of the field, while Harmon was among the six teams that failed to qualify and will be headed home.

Along with Harmon, the others that failed to qualify were Gray Gaulding, Ray Black Jr., Chris Cockrum, Morgan Shepherd, and Josh Bilicki.

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David Morgan is the Associate Editor for Motorsports Tribune. A 2008 graduate from the University of Mississippi, David has followed NASCAR since the early 90’s and became hooked at an early age after attending his first race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1993. He has traveled across the country since 2012 to cover some of the most prestigious events both IndyCar and NASCAR have to offer, with an aim to only expand on that in the near future.