Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Fla.) — Kyle Busch — who entered the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season desperate for a win in any race and seeking his first Daytona 500 in his 21st start — will lead the field to green Sunday from the pole thanks to posting the fastest lap in single-car qualifying Wednesday. It’s the first Daytona 500 pole for the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driver.
Busch will be joined on the front row by last year’s pole-sitter, Chase Briscoe. Also happy following qualifying: Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier locked themselves into the 2026 Daytona 500 field; the final two spots and the full Daytona 500 starting order will be set in the “duels” qualifying races Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Kyle Busch Has Historic Shot
Busch, a two-time Cup champion riding a 93-race winless streak, has led 342 laps over his career in the Daytona 500, the most laps led by a driver who has never won the sport’s biggest race.
No driver has ever earned his first Daytona 500 win later than his 20th start — Dale Earnhardt did it in 1998 — so Busch has a chance at history.
“It’s a box we’ve got to check,” Busch said in his post-qualifying news conference. “So here we are. This is an opportunity to be able to do that. I’ve come down here a lot of years, and I think I finished in about every position possible.
“It’d be nice to close out [that streak] with a victory here in the Daytona 500.”
2. Good Start For New Pairing
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA: NASCAR Hall of Famer and RCR team owner, Richard Childress, congratulates Kyle Busch after winning the 2026 Daytona 500 pole on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
For Busch, this will be a boost for him and new crew chief Jim Pohlman, who spent the last few years as crew chief for Justin Allgaier in the O’Reilly Series, where they won the 2024 series title.
Busch has said the key for Pohlman is keeping people accountable. Bringing fast cars to the track can help, too.
“Just a valiant effort by everybody here,” Busch said in his post-qualifying interview with FOX Sports’ Jamie Little. “It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night.”
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3. Big Relief and Excitement For Heim and Allgaier
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, before Daytona 500 practice. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier were the two fastest cars not already locked into the Daytona 500 field, so they earned spots in Sunday’s race. For both, it was an emotional moment.
Heim failed to make the Cup race last year on the Chicago street course, and here, he was trying to make the Daytona 500, where there were more cars entered than spots, in his first race since then. He left no question, qualifying fifth overall.
“After that Chicago race, everyone really stuck behind me and understood that I’m a developing race car driver, and I’ll make those mistakes,” said Heim, who won 12 truck races last year on his way to the series title, in his post-qualifying news conference. “They worked their tails off to bring me a great Daytona 500 car. Super cool feeling to have that support.”
Allgaier drives for JR Motorsports, and having an owner (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) who is arguably the most popular person in the sport brings with it its own pressure. Last year, Allgaier had to race his way in through the duels for JRM to make its first Cup race. This year’s Daytona 500 is the organization’s second.
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4. Second Duel Big Opportunity
(Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Six drivers will vie for the final two spots in the Daytona 500 with the top driver not already in the race who finishes the best in each of the two qualifying races (“the duels”) earning a spot. The cars attempting to make the Daytona 500 field are split in the two duels based on qualifying time, putting both Corey LaJoie and Chandler Smith — from two established organizations (RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports) — in the first duel, along with Casey Mears.
The second duel has three drivers from part-time single-car teams: Beard Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo, Live Fast Motorsports’ B.J. McLeod and NY Racing’s JJ Yeley. If LaJoie and Smith were split between the two duels, they would be the favorites to earn a Daytona 500 spot.
“The problem is when you’re racing in these duels, it’s the uncontrollable that you’re worried about, the unforeseen circumstances, whether it’s the strategy or an accident or any of those things,” Alfredo told me.
“As a team, we know what we need to do to execute and ultimately control, but there’s a lot of things you can’t in speedway racing or any racing for that matter.”
4 ½: What’s Next
The two 60-lap qualifying duels Thursday night (7 p.m. ET, FS1). Drivers will learn the most about their cars for the Daytona 500 — and hope not to crash, relegating them to the rear.
The other key is the duels pay points on a 10-to-1 scale for those finishing first to 10th. With the new points system this year, a 10-race postseason and bonus points based strictly on regular-season standings positions, those points from the duels could mean more.
