Kyle Larson won the Daytona 500 pole Wednesday (Feb. 16) night after going 181.159 mph in the second round.
It’s the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion’s 11th career pole and first at Daytona International Speedway.
”It’s really neat,” Larson told FOX Sports after qualifying. “It makes me just, I mean, anytime, I think you’re really proud of your team to get a pole here because this is the littlest that has to do with us drivers in this qualifying at superspeedways. Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports, everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles, whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands on. It’s really neat. Just awesome the speed in our Hendrickcars.com Chevy and hopefully this is the beginning of a really good weekend.”
His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman was second quickest at 181.046 mph, earning his fifth-straight start on the front row in the Great American Race.
William Byron, Aric Almirola and Chase Elliott swept positions three-five, though their starting spots aren’t official until the end of the duels Thursday (Feb. 17) night.
Noah Gragson, who went 177.553 mph, and Jacques Villeneuve (176.436 mph) locked themselves into the Daytona 500 on speed.
Daniel Suarez and Villeneuve failed inspection twice before qualifying, so a crew member will be ejected for this week as a result.
Daytona 500 Qualifying Results
The Bluegreen Vacations Duels begin on Thursday (Feb. 17) at 7 p.m. ET to set the rest of the Daytona 500 lineup. Cup teams will then have two additional practices, one each on Friday and Saturday. The Great American Race airs on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.