When all 45 entrants in the NASCAR Cup Series season opening Daytona 500 finished qualifying on Wednesday, February 11, two drivers were faster than the rest. As a result, they will start on the Front Row for the 68th running of The Great American Race.
Also clinched were two of the open drivers needing to race their way in as non-chartered teams.
Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe Win Daytona 500 Front Row
Kyle Busch won his first Daytona 500 Pole Award with a fast lap of 183.651 mph/49.006 seconds in the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
“This guy (Jim Pohlman, new crew chief) knew we could win the pole tonight,” Busch said. “He had more confidence than I did, but that’s not a bad thing. This is a great boost for this RCR team and all we’ve done to get ready for the 500. Bringing Jim on board has been good for us and it sure feels good to see all the work that went on behind the scenes paying off.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to start our season off in a positive way like this. I’ve been with Richard (Childress) for three years and we’ve wrecked out of two of them here before. Getting through the Duel tomorrow night and hanging on to the pole is important.”
Briscoe won the pole for last year’s race but fell just one spot short with a lap of 183.587 mph/49.023 seconds in the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
“It’s pretty cool just to be on the front row for two consecutive years,” Briscoe said. “We have really worked hard on our superspeedway program. For me, it’s a really big deal to lead the field to green for the Daytona 500 once again.
“I’m sure Johnny Morris (Bass Pro Shops) is blowing up my phone right now because he’s been so excited for this race. I’ve never won a race on a superspeedway until Talladega last year. So, this is a great way to get back to improving on what we learned last year.
“Our car was bouncing pretty bad hitting the ground during practice. When we qualified tonight, it was a lot better and it showed in the results.”
These two positions will not change for the Daytona 500 no matter what happens in The Duels on Thursday.
Rounding out the Top 10 Daytona 500 Qualifiers
When the first session was completed around the high banks, a second qualifying run took place for fastest top 10. At stake was a good starting position in The Duels on Thursday night.
In order from third to 10th it was Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Corey Heim, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano.
Drivers who were second, fourth, sixth, eighth and 10th fastest will start second, third, fourth and fifth in the first Duel. Those who were third, fifth, seventh and ninth fastest will line up the same in the second Duel.
The two 60-lap, 150-mile races finalize who starts where in Sunday’s 500. In turn, it will also send four teams home after failing to qualify.
Heim and Allgaier Lock in on Speed
From the eight non-charter drivers needing to make the race, it was Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier taking the pressure off themselves and their teams by making it on speed. Heim will make his first Daytona 500 with Allgaier making his second.
Heim laid down a lap of 183.158 mph/49.135 seconds in his No. 67 Toyota for 23XI Racing. Allgaier ran the No. 40 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports at 182.923 mph/42.201 seconds around Daytona. Heim actually made it into the final round of 10 and laid down another fast lap of
The remaining six open cars will have to race their way in on Thursday with only two positions available.
Noah Gragson Time Disallowed
During his lap, Noah Gragson placed his left hand near the B post of his No. 4 Ford while coursing down the backstretch. Earlier this week, NASCAR handed down a ruling preventing drivers from touching anything near the driver’s side window during qualifying laps on Superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega.
“I totally forgot about that rule, so that one is on me.” Gragson told Jamie Little from Fox-TV. “I feel like, for the Daytona 500, it’s a long enough race you can kind of start wherever. It is what it is.
“Yeah, I feel like an idiot for that and putting my hand there. Oh well, we got the race tomorrow (The Duels) to get in. I’m down for that.”
Gragson and all other drivers will find out where they start, or don’t, when the first Duel takes the green at 7 p.m. and the second is slated to go off at 8:45 p.m. Both can be seen on FS1-TV and heard on MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe on Front Row for Daytona 500