In his 22nd attempt at it, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will start on the pole for the Daytona 500.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In his 22nd attempt at it, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will start on the pole for the Daytona 500.
© Mike Dinovo | 2026 Feb 11 Busch clocked in a lap nearly eclipsing the 49-second mark he blew away in the first round of qualifying. It was good enough to get him his first Daytona 500, the 35th of his NASCAR Cup Series career and his first Cup pole since Dover in April of 2024.
"Being able to qualify on my first pole for the Daytona 500 is really special. It feels really good for RCR as a group and especially thanks to Zone. Maybe it was the flames that brought us the speed and the heat we needed," Busch said. "It'd be nice to be doing an interview like this Sunday night for being number one then."
This year's Daytona 500 is set to take place nearly 25 years since the death of Dale Earnhardt. Richard Childress Racing and Earnhardt-affiliated entries have fared well in Daytona 500s that fall right around some major date for RCR and Earnhardt -- with Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning his first Daytona 500 in 2004 (three years after his father's death), Kevin Harvick winning his first in 2007 (on the date of Earnhardt's death, Feb. 18), Austin Dillon winning his first in 2018 (20 years after Earnhardt's first) and Busch nearly winning his first in 2023 (25 years after Earnhardt's first).
Busch will share the front row with Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, whose No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE will start on the opposite side of the front row he occupied for last year's Daytona 500 when he won the pole for the race.
Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin, Corey Heim, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano rounded out the top-10 fastest drivers on qualifying night. Thursday night's America 250 Florida Duel races will determine where they will start Sunday's Daytona 500.
Heim and Justin Allgaier won't have to worry about finishing well enough in their respective Duel races to make the Daytona 500 after they each posted a fast enough time in qualifying Wednesday.
Heim paced the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway in 49.138 seconds in the first round with his No. 67 Robinhood Toyota Camry XSE -- good enough to give the young 23XI Racing driver a chance at the pole in the 10-man final round. The only other time an open team made the final round of qualifying for the Daytona 500 was Ryan Preece and his No. 37 JTG-Daugherty Racing team in 2021.
Heim will make his first start in the Daytona 500, joining Connor Zilisch as the two drivers locked in, as of Wednesday, to making their debut in the Great American Race.
Allgaier locked JR Motorsports into their second Daytona 500 with a time of 49.201 seconds. He locked his No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet into the race and secured his fourth start in the Daytona 500 by just 0.004 seconds over Corey LaJoie.
LaJoie will need to race his No. 99 Trimble Ford into the Daytona 500 through his America 250 Florida Duel race on Thursday night.
Excluding Heim and Allgaier's teams that are already locked into the race, the highest-finishing open team in each Duel will lock into the 500.