Unless you're into conspiracy theories — and we know that many NASCAR fans are — the pole winner for the Daytona 500 really doesn’t matter.
The fastest qualifier is guaranteed a starting spot on the front row for NASCAR’s biggest race and gets a little extra media attention for a few days, but that’s about it. The pole winner hasn’t won the Daytona 500 since Dale Jarrett in 2000, so being fast a week before certainly doesn’t guarantee success in the Great American Race.
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So only conspiracy theorists get a real charge out of Daytona 500 qualifying.