Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag for the 68th running of the Daytona, lapping the 2.5-mile superspeedway in 49.006s to win pole position. He will share the front row with Chase Briscoe in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
This will be Busch’s 21st start in the Daytona 500 — a race he has never won before — and this will be the two-time Cup champion’s fist pole in The Great American Race as well. He eclipsed Briscoe by 0.016s in the final round of qualifying, and also led both rounds of qualifying.
For RCR, this is their seventh pole in the Daytona 500, and the team’s first since Austin Dillon earned pole in the 500 to kick-off the 2014 season.
“Certainly, here on Wednesday night, being able to qualify on my first pole for the Daytona 500, that’s pretty special,” said Busch, who is working with a brand new crew chief this year (Jim Pohlman). “I’ve had one other speedway pole down here in Daytona for the summer race. This feels good.
“Feels really good for RCR as a group. Everybody from ECR (Engines), thanks to Bob (Fisher, Senior Vice President of ECR Engines), and his whole team there. Thanks to zone Nicotine Pouches being on board for us. Maybe it was the flames that brought us all the speed and heat we needed for tonight. But also Lucas Oil, obviously their fuel treatments and oil treatments, everything that we run in this race car to give us the speed we need to be up front.
“Just a valiant effort by everybody here. It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night.”
Bowman Gray Clash winner Ryan Preece qualified third, Denny Hamlin fourth, and Corey Heim impressed everyone as he qualified fifth in his first-ever Daytona 500 attempt.
Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano filled out the remainder of the top ten.
The field will now be split in half for the Duel qualifying races, where the rest of the final starting positions behind the front row will be decided.
In the first round of qualifying, Busch was the only driver to dip into the 48-second bracket and went fastest of all drivers. Logano was the final driver to advance into the pole-deciding round, while Ty Gibbs was the first driver to miss out on advancing, falling just 0.011 shy of making it into Round 2.
A new rule for 2026 is that drivers cannot put their hands against the opening in the window to deflect air during qualifying, but Noah Gragson forgot about that, and got his qualifying time disallowed as a result. He later called himself an ‘idiot’ for the brain lapse, but he wasn’t too concerned as it’s fairly easy to move back-and-forth through the field at superspeedways.
Heim and Allgaier lock themselves into the field
As for the open entries, Reigning NASCAR Truck Series champion Corey Heim managed to lock himself into the field in a fourth entry for 23XI Racing. It will be his very first appearance in the Daytona 500. And for the second year in-a-row, JR Motorsports qualified for the 500 with former NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Justin Allgaier, leading to emotional celebrations in the Earnhardt team’s pit area.
Allgaier beat LaJoie by just 0.004s for the final locked-in spot in qualifying, leaving LaJoie to fight the amongst the remaining six open entries, who will all be seeking the final two spots on the grid through the Duel qualifying races on Thursday.
“It feels really good,” Kelley-Earnhardt Miller told FOX Sports 1 after Allgaier locked into the field. “I don’t know about less stress, but it feels really good. We’re super proud of Justin.”
Added Dale Earnhardt Jr.: “It is a lot of fun. It’s such a great sport, and it’s so much fun to be a part of it. It’s awesome to be able to come down here and try to make your way in. It is stressful, but that’s the best part about it.”
Daytona 500 Qualifying Results
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