{"id":10905,"date":"2017-06-30T22:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-07-01T03:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=10905"},"modified":"2017-06-30T22:00:14","modified_gmt":"2017-07-01T03:00:14","slug":"dale-earnhardt-jr-takes-pole-position-for-coke-zero-400-at-daytona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2017\/06\/30\/dale-earnhardt-jr-takes-pole-position-for-coke-zero-400-at-daytona\/","title":{"rendered":"Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes pole position for Coke Zero 400 at Daytona"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR<\/em><\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.<\/b> \u2013 Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/strong> won the pole position on Friday for the 59th annual Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola set for Saturday night, his final Daytona International Speedway race in Monster Energy NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series competition.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, and his team pose with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying in the pole position for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on June 30, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Crabill\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Winning the pole gives Earnhardt a berth in the 2018 Advance Auto Parts Clash, a non-points event held each February at DIS and only minutes after qualifying was complete on Friday, he hinted that he would consider returning for the Clash. He had already said earlier this season that if he won a pole, he would consider entering the Clash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have to talk to the boss (team owner Rick Hendrick),\u201d Earnhardt said.<\/p>\n

Earnhardt is retiring from full-time competition after this season. He comes into the Coke Zero 400 with 17 victories in his career at DIS \u2013 two apiece in the DAYTONA 500 and Coke Zero 400.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great race car,\u201d Earnhardt said of his No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS. \u201cBut there are still a lot of things to do before we see the checkered flag. There\u2019s still a lot of work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earnhardt led both rounds of qualifying, topping out at 190.973 mph in the second round. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott (No. 24 NAPA Patriotic Chevrolet SS) will start on the outside of the front row, after qualifying at 190.795.<\/p>\n

Earnhardt credited some in-house competition with Elliott as a key to winning the pole.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been pushing each other hard the last [two] years at Daytona and Talladega,\u201d Earnhardt said.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h2>\n

Dale Earnhardt Jr. – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DIS_MENCS_Earnhardt_Pole_063017.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Chase Elliott – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DIS_MENCS_Elliott_063017.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Several hours before qualifying on Friday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed the media in a press conference that was emotional, introspective \u2013 and obviously meaningful. He talked about his past successes at Daytona International Speedway, giving detailed descriptions about the dynamics of restrictor-plate racing. But he also summed up the personal appeal the 2.5-mile tri-oval holds for him:<\/p>\n

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Press conference audio: <\/strong><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DIS_MENCS_Earnhardt_063017.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty fun race track. It\u2019s a challenging track. A lot of great things have happened here. It\u2019s something to be proud of. There\u2019s a lot of great history here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, poses with a painting presented to him during a press conference at Daytona International Speedway on June 30, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Prior to the press conference, Speedway President Chip Wile presented Earnhardt with a painting of three cars he drove to victory on the high banks: the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet from the 2014 DAYTONA 500; the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet from the 2010 Coca-Cola Firecracker 250; and the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet from the 2001 Coke Zero 400.<\/p>\n

Earnhardt called those his three favorite races at DIS. And his choice as his absolute favorite surprised no one \u2014 the 2001 Coke Zero 400, a victory that came only four-and-a-half months after his father Dale Earnhardt died following a last-lap accident in the DAYTONA 500.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably my favorite, to be honest, because of the circumstances,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cIt\u2019s not the biggest race. It\u2019s not the DAYTONA 500. But because of the circumstances, that was pretty important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for the 59th annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola and other Daytona International Speedway events can be purchased online atwww.daytonainternationalspeedway.com<\/a> or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.<\/p>\n

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter<\/a>, Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, Pinterest<\/a>, YouTube<\/a> and Snapchat<\/a>, and by downloading Daytona International Speedway\u2019s mobile app, for the latest news throughout the season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole position on Friday for the 59th annual Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola set for Saturday night, his final Daytona International Speedway race in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition. Winning the pole gives Earnhardt a berth in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[167,287,16],"class_list":["post-10905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-dale-earnhardt-jr","tag-daytona-international-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/DIS_MENCS_Earnhardt_team_063017.jpg?fit=4019%2C2679","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-2PT","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10905"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10914,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10905\/revisions\/10914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}