Dale Earnhardt, Jr. earned his first Daytona 500 pole win in qualifying Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt, Jr. toured the 2.5-mile superspeedway at an average speed of 186.089 mph. Jeff Gordon qualified second fast with a lap at 185.966 mph, giving Hendrick Motorsports a front row sweep of the 2011 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt, Jr. said Sunday's qualifying session did not give an indication of who will win next Sunday.

"Anybody can win the (Daytona 500)," said Dale, Jr. "It's going to be a tough race to win. There were cars today that qualified outside the top-20 that are winning cars. We're going to work hard."

The Daytona 500 marks Dale, Jr's. 400th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start.

Trevor Bayne turned in a strong performance in the Wood Brothers No. 21, recording the third fastest lap of the day at 185.445 mph. Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer completed the top-five.

Sixth through 10th were Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart. Last night's Budweiser Shootout winner Kurt Busch occupied 11th on the speed chart.

2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray was 27th among the 48 drivers who made a qualifying run.

Sunday's qualifying session locks in the front row for the 53rd annual Daytona 500 on February 20th and sets the starting lineup for the Gatorade Duel. The balance of the Daytona 500 starting field will be determined by the finishing order of Thursday's Gatorade Duel.

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