Following their seventh-place finish in the Budweiser Shootout Saturday evening, Dave Blaney and the Caterpillar Racing team added to their success by posting a fifth place qualifying effort for the running of Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Qualifying for the 500 is unique from any other race run during the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Only the fastest two qualifiers are locked into the field after the single round of time trials that took place Sunday. The remainder of the 43-car field will determined by two qualifying races, known as the Gatorade Duels, which will take place Thursday afternoon. Sunday’s two-lap qualifying run is still very important however, as it determines the lineup for those two races. The Caterpillar Racing team will lineup on the starting grid in third for the second of the two Duels after posting a speed of 186.120 miles per hour around the two-mile oval.

Thanks to top-35 finish in the 2007 owner points, the Cat Racing team is guaranteed a spot in the 50th running of the Daytona 500.