DALE EARNHARDT JR CRASHES STARTS DAYTONA 500 IN REAR

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not start on the pole for the Daytona 500 after all. Earnhardt was involved in a crash with Martin Truex Jr. during Wednesday's opening Sprint Cup Series practice session at Daytona International Speedway and will be forced to a back-up car after the incident. Earnhardt and Truex Jr. were running in the two-car draft tandem that has been the phenomenon of Speedweeks 2011 and approached slower cars on the track when they made contact after running up on the car of Jimmie Johnson. "The guys on the inside looked like they were going to stay low and then they started kind of creeping up and giving Jimmie (Johnson), and they gave me the impression they were going to be closing the hole on the outside," Earnhardt Jr. said. "So Jimmie lifted. And he about wrecked and I got off the gas and there were a couple of guys coming behind me (Martin) Truex, and a couple other guys and just didn’t have a chance. “You got to pay attention out there, man. I mean if you’re going to come out here and race, you need to pay attention.” The impact caused significant damage to both cars and the No. 88 AMP Energy Chevrolet that Earnhardt had won the pole with on Sunday will not be able to start the Daytona 500. Junior was fastest of the session at the time of the wreck with a lap of 199.526 mph. That will force Earnhardt to the rear of the field in both his Gatorade Duel qualifying race on Thursday as well as Sunday's Daytona 500. He will now drive chassis 88-576. Jeff Gordon last raced this chassis at Talladega in October to an eighth-place finish. "The backup car is fine, just as good as the other ones," Earnhardt Jr. said. "They are all kit cars any ways. The bodies are all the same. Good motors. We'll have plenty of speed, but we have this car; the third car, the fourth car is just as good. I mean, they are all good." Truex Jr. will start at the rear of the field in the Gatorade Duel, but will be able to start in his finishing position of the Duel because he did not officially qualify for the Daytona 500. Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson changed an engine during Wednesday's practice session and will start at the rear of his Duel on Thursday. Casey Mears and Denny Hamlin also will drop to the rear of their Duels after engine changes