Kyle Busch wins pole for Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kyle Busch delivered the best Daytona 500 qualifying effort of his NASCAR career Wednesday night at Daytona International Speedway, claiming his first pole position for the "Great American Race" on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Busch's No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was quickest in first round qualifying and answered the work resoundingly with a 183.651 mph lap in the 10-car final round -- besting Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe by only 0.064 mph to set the front row.

Busch, 40, and Briscoe, 31 -- the 2025 Daytona 500 polesitter -- locked into the 40-car field along with 23XI Racing's Corey Heim and JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier, who claimed the two Open positions up for grabs Wednesday. The remainder of the field will be settled in Thursday night's America 250 Florida Duel at Daytona races (7 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with the 500 starting positions based on the Duels' finishing order.

This will mark Busch's 21st start in the Daytona 500 -- and no previous driver has won the race with more than 20 starts. The late NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt scored his only Daytona 500 victory in his 20th start for Busch's team owner, NASCAR Hall of Famer Childress.

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"Certainly, here on a Wednesday night, being able to qualify on my first pole for the Daytona 500, that's pretty special," said a grinning Busch. "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.

"Just a valiant effort by everybody here," the two-time series champion said. "It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night."

Briscoe was obviously encouraged by his showing as well, noting with a laugh that more typically it's the Hendrick Motorsports team that has dominated Daytona 500 front row qualifying in recent years.

"It's cool for sure to be able to consistently [qualify] two years in a row now," said Briscoe, who drives the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. "It's really a testament to the folks back at JGR. We've made so many improvements on our superspeedway program. This race really comes down to, at least in qualifying, attention to detail, just doing every little thing.

"The 19 group has consistently kind of been the best one. That's really exciting for us. Just a lot of pride in that, right? I know for me, every week when I get in the car, I know I'm in arguably the best car every single week. When we come here and do stuff like we've done two years in a row validates that.

"It's the kid in me. ... being on the front row, for two years in a row at the Daytona 500. It's a really big deal."

It was certainly a thrilling start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series points season. The qualifying session featured a great battle among all three series manufacturers -- with four Chevrolets, three Fords and three Toyotas making up the final round. Nine of the 10 cars that advanced bettered the pole speed from a year ago.

Last week's Cook Out Clash preseason-opening race winner, Ryan Preece, was third fastest in the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford, with three-time Daytona 500 winner, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, fourth quickest, followed by Heim, the only one of eight Open cars to make the 10-car final round.

"Just kind of nerve-wracking for sure to say the least," the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Heim conceded of earning his first ever Daytona 500 start in the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota. "But as soon as we knew all cars would be out in the second round except for us, that's kind of the final solidifying factor. I thought for a minute, three of us were going to be in the final round, and we were going to have to race it out.

"So impressed and thank you for 23XI Racing and Toyota coming here with an Open car and a fourth team at 23XI. To be able to do that is pretty impressive even from my eyes. I feel like that's a very big accomplishment from those guys. Just blessed to be a part of the team."

MORE: Full Daytona 500 qualifying results | Duel starting lineups

The veteran Allgaier -- the 2024 champion and a current full-time competitor in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series -- is making his second consecutive start in the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, owned by two-time Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Miller. Allgaier's qualifying time bettered the open car driven by Corey LaJoie by only a slight 0.004-second to claim that second guaranteed entry.

"I thought there would be less stress, but I felt like for me, the stress level actually went up compared to last year with what we are able to accomplish," said Allgaier, who finished ninth last year in the team's inaugural Daytona start.

"You feel like you'll come back in a lot better capacity, and we did; that was a great qualifying effort, just short of the top-10," he said of the car's 14th-place showing Wednesday night among the 45-car field.

"I think last year we made it so exciting on Thursday, it was really cool, and it was special," Allgaier said of having to race for a position in the 2025 Daytona 500 in the Duels. "But I feel like this year, I can go through the Duels and work on the car in a far different capacity and allows us to go to the 500 and really feel like we're competing for a win and competing for a great position. It's just different, and I'm really proud of this team."

His grinning team owner Earnhardt conceded, "It is stressful, but that's the best part about it."

Of note, Front Row Motorsports driver Noah Gragson had his qualifying lap disallowed after he used his hand to affect airflow, violating a new NASCAR rule that took effect this year. He'll start last in his Duel race.

"I completely forgot about that rule," Gragson said, "That one's on me."