There will be no agonizing wait for Jimmie Johnson to make the Daytona 500 this year. A year after a white-knuckle trip into the field through a harrowing qualifying race, the seven-time Cup Series champion had an easier time in qualifying Wednesday night for the 67th edition of the Great American Race.

Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. qualified for the Daytona 500 as unchartered cars thanks to their single-lap qualifying speeds Wednesday.

"Where else do you go and barely make the field and cry tears of joy? Nowhere," Earnhardt said of the fabled speedway and race.