Daytona 500 2012: Lineup, Starting Grid For NASCAR’s Biggest Race

Finally – finally! – all the hype and buildup for the 2012 Daytona 500 is over and race day itself has actually arrived at Daytona International Speedway. Let’s take a look at the lineup and starting grid for NASCAR’s biggest race.

Carl Edwards will lead the field to the green flag today (1:29 p.m. Eastern, FOX) thanks to the pole position he earned in last Sunday’s time trials. His Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Greg Biffle, will start alongside him, also because of the time trials.

The second row consists of the drivers who won Thursday’s Gatorade Duel races: Tony Stewart on the inside and Matt Kenseth on the outside.

From there, Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts fifth and Regan Smith, Marcos Ambrose, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton and Elliott Sadler round out the top 10 for the “Great American Race.”

Several drivers had to earn their way into the Daytona 500 after showing up for Speedweeks without a guaranteed spot in the race. That group included last year’s Daytona 500 champ, Trevor Bayne, whose Wood Brothers Racing team did not obtain the top 35 owner points to lock the youngster into the event.

Bayne made it, though, using a fast time in qualifying to secure a spot along with David Stremme and Tony Raines.

Michael McDowell, Robby Gordon, Dave Blaney and Joe Nemechek also raced their way into the Daytona 500 by virtue of their performance in the Gatorade Duel.

In addition, Terry Labonte made the field by virtue of his past champion’s provisional, which is a reserved spot that goes to NASCAR’s most recent past champion who needs it.

Those who failed to make the race included fan favorites Michael Waltrip, Kenny Wallace and Bill Elliott, along with Robert Richardson Jr., Mike Wallace and JJ Yeley.

For more Daytona coverage, make sure to follow our Daytona 500 StoryStream. We’ve posted a ton of updates from Speedweeks there so far, with many more to come from the track today.

Here is the starting lineup for the 2012 Daytona 500: