Richard Childress Racing swept the front row for the season opening NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona International Speedway, as Austin Hill claimed the pole on Saturday (Feb. 14) while Jesse Love will start alongside of him.
This is Hill’s third career pole at Daytona, and he is looking for his fourth career win at the track. Love is the defending series champion and defending winner of this race.
Sam Mayer, William Sawalich and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five. Corey Day, Rajah Caruth, Patrick Staropoli, Taylor Gray and Ryan Sieg qualified in the sixth-to-10th positions.
Garrett Smithley, David Starr, Anthony Alfredo and Joey Gase failed to qualify. Alfredo missed the show in the No. 96 Viking Motorsports entry, but a deal was worked out with Alpha Prime Racing, and he will now pilot the No. 4 car in the event, taking the place of Caesar Bacarella.
Carson Ware blew up on his warmup lap coming off of pit road, so he will start from last place in the No. 30 Barrett-Cope Racing entry.
Daytona O’Reilly Qualifying Results
The first race in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season takes place at Daytona on Saturday, Feb. 14, with coverage beginning at 4 p.m. ET on The CW.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.