The 51-year-old driver will be starting from pole for the first time in his career as he seeks out his first Daytona 500 win. “This is really special,” Martin said. “What a way to start the season. It’s such an accomplishment for Hendrick Motorsports, but especially the #5 and #88 shop. Dale is locked in the front row in a rocketship car. You know, he may be the man to beat come next Sunday,” he remarked.

“I've had a great career and had a lot of good stuff happen for me but winning the Daytona 500 trophy would be the biggest one.”

Earnhardt Jr has also secured his place on the front row, incidentally his best starting place for what is known as NASCAR’s most popular race. “We would have loved to have got the pole,” noted Earnhardt Jr. "We had plenty of racecar but Mark and his boys just edged us out and did all the right things, made the right adjustments from that one run we had yesterday and learned from everything. We're happy to be on the front row.”

Along with Robbie Gordon, only Hendrick Motorsports-powered Chevrolets held pole during the session. While Martin and Earnhardt's starting positions are now set, the rest of the line-up will be decided by the duels next Thursday.

Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth overall, edging out reigning champion Jimmie Johnson who set an identical time to Kurt Busch. Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top ten.