(DAYTONA BEACH, FL) -- In his first outing in a Hendrick Motorsports car, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won Saturday's Bud Shootout. He gave a lot of credit to the strength of his car. "I feel great confidence in my abilities at these places and now with this type of equipment, I came down here with some pretty stout stuff this weekend," said Earnhardt.

Qualifying for the Daytona 500 added to the weekend action at Daytona. On Sunday, it was more Hendrick performance landing the pole for the Daytona 500. Reigning Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson secured the pole for the official start of the NASCAR Sprit Cup Series season this coming Sunday. He was confident his car was strong after getting a clear signal from his crew. "They all just kind of smiled and they had that confident smile and look in their eye. Chad is like, you've got a good one," said Johnson.

Johnson crashed his 500 car in practice on Friday. A short track back-up car was used in Saturday's Shootout. Crew Chief Chad Kanaus ordered the quick turnaround of a replacement car from their Charlotte garage for Sunday qualifying. Kanaus maintained the entire weekend was a team effort. "Ya, know, there's just a lot to be said for that. A lot of people put a lot of effort into this," said Kanaus.