Kyle Busch will start on the pole for the 2026 Daytona 500 after qualifying fastest Wednesday night, marking his first pole win in the “Great American Race.” Chase Briscoe secured the second starting position, mirroring his achievement from the previous year.
The qualifying results likewise set the starting order for Thursday night’s pair of 150-mile qualifying races, known as the Daytona Duels. Busch and Briscoe will each lead the field in their respective Duel, with the results of those races determining the remaining starting positions for the 41-car field in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
The first Duel will see Busch starting alongside Ryan Preece in the first row, followed by Corey Heim and Alex Bowman in the second. Chris Buescher and Joey Logano will start in the third row, with Austin Dillon and Corey LaJoie in the fourth. John Hunter Nemechek and Brad Keselowski will occupy the fifth row, whereas Ryan Blaney and William Byron will start in the sixth. Cole Custer and Cody Ware will start in the seventh row, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Bubba Wallace in the eighth. AJ Allmendinger and Ross Chastain will start in the ninth row, with Shane van Gisbergen and Daniel Suarez in the tenth. Chandler Smith and Casey Mears will start in the eleventh row, and Noah Gragson will round out the field in the twelfth.
Briscoe will lead the second Duel, starting alongside Denny Hamlin. Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will start in the second row, followed by Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell in the third. Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric will start in the fourth row, with Zane Smith and Michael McDowell in the fifth. Connor Zilisch and Erik Jones will start in the sixth row, while Josh Berry and Carson Hocevar will start in the seventh. Riley Herbst and Todd Gilliland will start in the eighth row, followed by Anthony Alfredo and Ty Dillon in the ninth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. And Tyler Reddick will start in the tenth row, with BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley completing the lineup in the eleventh.
Twenty-three cars will compete in the first Duel, and twenty-two in the second, with the finishing order of each race setting the remaining positions for the Daytona 500.
