In a stunning turn of events during Wednesday night’s qualifying session for the 67th running of the Daytona 500, Chase Briscoe upset Ford’s dominance to claim pole position for NASCAR’s most prestigious race.
Briscoe completed a lap in 49.249 seconds (182.745 mph) to secure the top starting spot for Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). This achievement marked the first time a Toyota driver has won the pole for the “Great American Race.” Briscoe narrowly edged out 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric (182.463 mph) by a mere 0.076 seconds to claim the prime position on the grid.
“A great way to start our season,” an elated Briscoe said, celebrating his third career pole. “Unbelievable way to start off the year. Unbelievable way to start off with Toyota. To be able to be the guy to deliver them the first anything when they’ve already accomplished so much is pretty cool. Can’t thank (owner) Coach Gibbs enough, the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization. The whole offseason, everybody kept telling me the focus was trying to qualify better at superspeedways. That’s something I really struggled at last year. For our 19 group to come here and sit on the pole at the biggest race of the year is pretty special.”
Due to the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500, only Briscoe, in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, and Cindric have their starting positions locked in for Sunday’s race.
Ford drivers dominated the top five positions in qualifying, with Cindric, Ryan Preece, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano, and Josh Berry occupying second through fifth on the speed chart, respectively.
“A lot of fast Fords,” Cindric commented. “Pretty good to start on the front row with one of my good friends. All in all, a great box checked for the start of this week. I think every single part of this weekend is important to setting up with an opportunity to win this race on Sunday.”
The remaining starting order will be determined during Thursday night’s Duel at Daytona 150-mile qualifying races. However, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson have already secured their spots in the field for NASCAR’s most prestigious race after posting the two fastest qualifying times among the nine drivers of unchartered cars.
Truex, driving the first Tricon Garage entry in the Cup Series, qualified 22nd overall, while Johnson, piloting the No. 84 Toyota fielded by Legacy Motor Club, the team he co-owns, qualified 29th.
“Definitely a big relief,” Truex said. “You never know what can happen in the Duels; they can get crazy, and something on pit road can get you in trouble. Great job to all of the guys. They worked their butts off on this car. They were sweating all afternoon, and luckily, we were able to put a good lap in … All of the guys at Tricon and also at JGR, Toyota and TRD. I’m sure it’s a big deal for them — both cars that just locked in are Toyotas. Big night for them, and hopefully, we can have some fun the rest of the weekend.”
Johnson expressed his gratitude for avoiding the stress of racing his way into the field, saying, “What I went through last year (in the Duels) was so frightening, and I’m glad I don’t have to go through it again. I certainly respect this process and don’t envy the guys that have to race their way in.”
“Both Jimmie and I were beneficiaries of their [Toyota’s] hard work on their engines,” Truex added.
Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon (in the fastest Chevrolet), Christopher Bell, Ty Dillon, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10 in the final round of qualifying.
Briscoe will lead the field to green in Thursday’s first Duel, while Cindric will start from the pole in the second qualifying race. Preece will start second in Duel 1, and Logano will occupy the outside of the front row in Duel 2.
The drivers who must race their way into the Daytona 500 on Thursday, seeking the two remaining spots, are Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Corey LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, Chandler Smith, and J.J. Yeley. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves is also vying for a spot, but if he fails to qualify, he will be granted entry as the 41st car under NASCAR’s new “world-class driver” provisional rule. If Castroneves takes the provisional, Trackhouse Racing will not receive any points or purse money, and the field will expand to 41 cars, the largest since 2015 when 43 cars were the standard.
