04/29/2017 – Having discussed drivers who have won consecutive poles for the Daytona 500, there is also the manufacturer streak to consider (for example, Chevrolet has won the last 5 Daytona 500 poles with 4 different drivers).
While Pontiac was the first manufacturer to win consecutive poles for the Daytona 500 (1960-1963 with Cotton Owens/1960 and Fireball Roberts/1961-1963, a streak of 4 that was not equaled until 1974-1977 with Chevrolet, and then finally beaten with the most recent Chevrolet streak 2013-2017) Pontiac’s last streak of consecutive Daytona 500 poles was 1981-1982 with Bobby Allison and Benny Parsons respectively.
Allison’s pole-winning performance and the accompanying story has been discussed on this blog several times and does not bear repeating. Parsons’ accomplishment is somewhat less known, possibly due to the fact that he crashed out half-way and didn’t lead a single lap on the day.
Pontiac would go on and win the Daytona 500 pole on 2 more separate occasions, 1993 (Kyle Petty) and 1998 (Bobby Labonte).
Pontiac Racing 