DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made JTG-Daugherty Racing “the little team that could” on Sunday afternoon during Busch Pole Qualifying for the 62nd annual Daytona 500.

Stenhouse motored to his first career pole position for The Great American Race with a scintillating lap around Daytona Int’l Speedway’s 2.5-mile high banks.

The Olive Branch, Miss., native turned a lap of 46.253 seconds (194.582 mph) with his No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, outpacing Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman for top qualifying honors.

It marked Stenhouse’s third NASCAR Cup Series pole, but his first for the Daytona 500. Sunday was also the first time JTG-Daugherty Racing has put a car on the pole for The Great American Race as well.

As he soaked in the moment, Stenhouse marveled at the effort by his team, appreciative of their support through his transition to a new team and new situation.

“Man, this is a cool moment,” Stenhouse said. “Tad and Jody (Geschickter, co-owners) are back at the shop. I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be here and to bring guys with me like Brian (Pattie) along with me. Everyone has been working really hard. They’re all in my corner, they’ve all been behind me … and Ernie (Cope) runs a great organization. The Hendrick horsepower was amazing. We had quite a few Hendrick cars right there behind us, all lined up, so it’s cool to come out on top there.

“Our Camaro ZL1 1LE was really strong. The wind started picking up there down the back straightaway and gave a little headwind for the other guys, so that helped us, I think,” Stenhouse added. “But I’m really proud to put our Kroger Chevy on the pole on Kroger Pole Day for the Daytona 500. That was our goal coming down here. Pattie’s been working really hard all offseason for that goal, and everybody chipped in. The whole shop helped cut bodies off, put them back on, and all that, so this goes out to the whole shop and all our other partners – NOS Energy Drink as well.

“I’m looking forward to hopefully continuing this momentum on Thursday.”

Bowman, who won the Daytona 500 pole in 2018, earned his third straight front-row start for NASCAR’s biggest event with a time of 46.305 seconds (194.363 mph) in the No. 88 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

While he was one of the few who had the speed to challenge Stenhouse’s blistering pole effort, Bowman found it hard to be too disappointed after placing his team in the top two at Daytona again.

“Maybe if I grew a mullet, like Ricky; I feel like maybe that was the speed secret there,” Bowman joked. “Hats off to the JTG guys, though. Hendrick engines went one, two, three, four … so that’s pretty cool. We have a great Valvoline Camaro. I’m really happy with how the new Camaro has been so far. It’s not a pole, but (starting on the) front row is still really good. Obviously we wanted the pole, and just barely missed it there.

“The Hendrick engine shop, the fab shop and all the guys that work on these things all winter … this is really all about them. As a driver, you can really only screw it up here. You can’t make it go any faster.”

Just missing the front row were another pair of Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets, with two-time Daytona 500 pole winner Chase Elliott (46.319/194.305) and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (46.419/193.886) timing in third- and fourth-fastest, respectively.

That pair will join Stenhouse and Bowman on the front rows of the two Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona, which roll off Thursday night at 7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., respectively, on FOX Sports 1.

Defending race winner Denny Hamlin was the fastest Toyota qualifier in fifth, followed by teammate Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola, who led the Ford contingent with the seventh-quickest lap of the day.

William Byron, rookie Christopher Bell and Erik Jones – the final car to take a lap – completed the top 10.

Stenhouse and Hamlin weren’t the only two drivers rejoicing on Sunday, however. The qualifying session also locked in the top two non-chartered teams into next weekend’s Daytona 500 as well.

Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley (47.364/190.018) and Beard Motorsports’ Brendan Gaughan (47.633/188.945), who were 31st and 33rd on speed overall, led the way among the seven teams needing to time their ways into The Great American Race.

As such, regardless of how Thursday’s Duels play out, both Haley and Gaughan are guaranteed to race in the Daytona 500. They represent the youngest (Haley) and oldest (Gaughan) drivers in this year’s field.

To view the complete qualifying rundown, advance to the next page.