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Truex, now driving for the organization born from the merger between sponsor-strapped Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing, earned the pole for the Feb. 15 showcase event. With a lap of 188.001 mph in a Chevrolet, he showed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing will go on — perhaps stronger than the individual teams ever were.

“It was a tough winter for most of us in the community,” said Ganassi, the front man for the new race team.
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He’s considered one of the favorites to win the 50th running of the race.

“I feel like we’ve got a shot,” Earnhardt said. “Nobody’s boastful enough, I don’t think, personality-wise to come in here and claim that. I wouldn’t expect anybody to do that, but I thought we got a great shot. We’ve won some races down here, so we got to be in the group if there’s a group of them.”

Hamlin and teammate Tony Stewart gave Toyota a one-two finish in the second qualifying race.

(More in ‘Daytona field features abundance of story lines’…)