Majeski & Ford Secure Truck Pole At Daytona

Ty Majeski with the Cometic Gasket Pole Award at Daytona Int'l Speedway. (Rusty Jarrett/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Ty Majeski sped to a breakthrough NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole for Ford Performance during qualifying Friday afternoon at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Driving the No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, Majeski topped the second and final knockout round to secure his second pole in three years at the World Center of Racing.

A time of 50.345 seconds (178.767 mph) for the Seymour, Wis., native was enough to give Majeski the sixth pole of his Truck Series career, all for team owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson.

It marked the first Truck Series pole for Ford at Daytona since 2010 with Virginia native Jason White.

“[Superspeedway qualifying] is pretty much out of the driver’s hands; we just hold the steering wheel and keep our foot to the floor as much as we can,” said Majeski, the lone Ford driver in the Truck Series’ pole round. “This pole is a big testament to Joe [Shear Jr., crew chief], Tyler [Shullick, truck chief], and all my guys that lay a hand on this thing at ThorSport Racing. They do a great job preparing these speedway trucks and take a lot of pride in Daytona qualifying.

“This is our biggest race of the year and it’s cool to see the No. 98 up front,” he added. “We’ve got a couple of Wisconsin late model guys leading the pack to green tonight, and hopefully that’s a good omen for the race.”

Joining Majeski, the reigning ASA-STARS National Tour champion and a five-time ASA Midwest Tour late model champion, on the front row at Daytona is 2016 Truck Series titlist Johnny Sauter.

Sauter, the Nedecah, Wis., veteran who won the 2001 ASA National Tour points crown, timed in second-fastest in the final round at 50.363 seconds (178.703 mph) in the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado.

The 45-year-old Sauter led a string of six Chevrolets behind Majeski in the final round, with Spire Motorsports’ Corey LaJoie timing third-fastest ahead of Matt Mills in a second Niece Motorsports truck.

Tyler Ankrum filled out the top five for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, followed by Rev Racing’s Nick Sanchez and Ankrum’s teammate, Daniel Dye.

TRICON Garage’s Tanner Gray was the only Toyota driver to make the final round in eighth, with the Chevrolets of Bayley Currey and rookie Thad Moffitt – the grandson of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty – closing the top 10.

Three-time Truck Series champion Matt Crafton was the first driver who failed to advance out of the first round, missing the transfer cutoff by .019 seconds with a time of 50.768 seconds (177.277 mph).

Crafton will start 11th, with other notables deeper in the field including Stewart Friesen (17th), Chase Purdy (18th), Rajah Caruth (20th), defending series champion Ben Rhodes (24th), and Corey Heim (26th).

With 40 drivers on the property for 36 starting spots, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Mason Maggio, Ryan Huff, and Clay Greenfield failed to qualify for the Truck Series season opener.

The Fresh From Florida 250 goes green at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday night, with live coverage on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.