Kyle Busch edged out Chase Briscoe in qualifying to claim 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 pole position as Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier locked-in two open entry spots for Sunday’s race.
Busch’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet clocked a blistering lap time of 49.006 seconds, translating to an average speed of 183.651 mph, besting Briscoe by just 0.016s in the final showdown.
Wednesday night’s qualifying only solidified the front row for the 68th edition of Daytona 500, with all the remaining starting positions set to be determined in Thursday’s Duels.
The qualifying process followed NASCAR’s established superspeedway format, beginning with Round 1 where all drivers completed a single timed lap with the fastest 10 advancing to Round 2 for the pole battle, while also locking in the top two open entries based on speed.
Kyle Busch set the pace in Round 1 as the only driver to dip into the 48-second bracket with a 184mph lap average, before improving to 183.651 in the final round to claim his maiden pole for The Great American Race.
“It sounds really good right now,” said the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. “Certainly, here on Wednesday night, and being able to qualify on my first Daytona 500 pole position, that’s pretty special.
“I’ve had one other speedway pole in my career down here in Daytona for the summer race, but this feels really good.”
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Chase Briscoe followed closely in second in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, while Ryan Preece slotted into third aboard the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford, building on his recent Bowman Gray Clash victory. Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin secured fourth in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Meanwhile reigning NASCAR Truck Series champion Corey Heim was the fastest open entry in fifth, securing one of the two open spots for his Cup Daytona 500 debut driving the fourth 23XI Racing Toyota.
“Going out first, no one really knew where we were going to end up compared to our practice and qualifying times,” Heim said. “We were pretty similar, maybe a little bit faster, but I knew it was going to be really close.
“I thought it was going to be the (No.) 40 and the (No.) 99 looking at the practice speeds and whatnot. I thought for a second that three of us were going to be in the final round and have to race it out.
“But to cap it off is so impressive and thankful for 23XI Racing and Toyota for coming here with an Open car. 23XI to be able to do that is pretty impressive, even for my eyes. I feel like that’s a very big accomplishment for those guys and just blessed to be a part of the team.”
JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier locked in the second open entry spot after edging RFK’s Corey LaJoie by just 0.004 seconds.
Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano locked out the remaining top ten slots.
Noah Gragson had his promising 49.504-second lap in the No. 4 Chevrolet disqualified for violating NASCAR’s new 2026 rule prohibiting drivers from placing hands near the window net to manipulate airflow, a penalty he shrugged off given superspeedway passing opportunities.
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