By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daniel Hemric’s quest for a second-straight Championship 4 appearance in the NASCAR XFINITY Series will come from the front row.
Hemric laid down a 189.310-mph lap to claim the pole for Saturday’s PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway. The result was his second-career XFINITY Series pole.
There was little doubt over who would lead the field to green, with Hemric pacing both rounds of qualifying and taking the top spot by a .083 seconds over second-place Kyle Larson (188.890 mph).
Matt Tifft, Joey Logano and Spencer Gallagher rounded out the top five, with Justin Allgaier, Ryan Truex, Michael Annett, Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick completing the top 10.
While he made the final round, and issue with the cool down unit for his No. 1 Chevrolet kept Elliott Sadler from completing a lap in Round 2. The Virginian will roll off 12th for the event as a result.
With 46 cars on the property, NASCAR was forced to send six teams home to trim the field to its traditional 40-car size. Failing to qualify were Chris Cockrum, Josh Bilicki, Timmy Hill, Mike Harmon, Morgan Shepherd and Ray Black Jr.
Harmon was one of two drivers that weren’t allowed to complete a lap in the session after suffering infractions in pre-qualifying technical inspection. Harmon, who was docked for failing inspection four times, also lost his crew chief and car chief for the race.
Joining Harmon was 2013 XFINITY Series champion Austin Dillon, whose No. 3 Chevrolet had rear suspension violations. The elder Dillon brother will be forced to roll off last in the field, and will do so without crew chief Nick Harrison or his Richard Childress Racing car chief.
Matt Tifft will have to start Saturday’s race from the tail-end of the field after failing post-qualifying inspection. He’ll be joined by Josh Williams, whose inspection failure allowed Gray Gaulding to make the 40-car field on speed. Falling out at Gaulding’s expense was Hill.
Coverage for the PowerShares QQQ 300 will begin at 2:30 p.m. on FOX Sports 1.
| Pos. | Car No. | Driver |
| 1 | 21 | Daniel Hemric |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson(i) |
| 3 | 2 | Matt Tifft |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano(i) |
| 5 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher |
| 6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier |
| 7 | 11 | Ryan Truex |
| 8 | 5 | Michael Annett |
| 9 | 88 | Chase Elliott(i) |
| 10 | 9 | Tyler Reddick # |
| 11 | 60 | Austin Cindric # |
| 12 | 1 | Elliott Sadler |
| 13 | 98 | Aric Almirola |
| 14 | 20 | Christopher Bell |
| 15 | 0 | Cole Custer |
| 16 | 16 | Ryan Reed |
| 17 | 15 | Joe Nemechek |
| 18 | 18 | Daniel Suarez |
| 19 | 19 | Brandon Jones |
| 20 | 35 | Joey Gase |
| 21 | 28 | Dylan Lupton |
| 22 | 93 | Ryan Sieg |
| 23 | 36 | Alex Labbe |
| 24 | 4 | Ross Chastain |
| 25 | 51 | Jeremy Clements |
| 26 | 0 | Garrett Smithley |
| 27 | 90 | Josh Williams |
| 28 | 1 | Vinnie Miller |
| 29 | 24 | Kaz Grala |
| 30 | 86 | Brandon Brown |
| 31 | 78 | Ryan Ellis |
| 32 | 8 | Caesar Bacarella |
| 33 | 38 | Jeff Green |
| 34 | 52 | David Starr |
| 35 | 76 | Spencer Boyd |
| 36 | 66 | Timmy Hill |
| 37 | 55 | Stephen Leicht |
| 38 | 40 | Chad Finchum |
| 39 | 39 | J.J. Yeley |
| 40 | 3 | Austin Dillon |