Chase Briscoe Cashes In Toyota’s First Pole In The Daytona 500

Chase Briscoe claims the pole position for the 67th DAYTONA 500. (Photo Credit: Donald Jenney | The Podium Finish)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE continues its impressive qualifying speed from the end of last season as Chase Briscoe, representing Joe Gibbs Racing, secured Toyota’s first-ever pole position during front row qualifying for the 67th DAYTONA 500 on Wednesday night.

The driver from Mitchell, Indiana, sped around the 2.5-mile superspeedway at 182.745 mph, achieving a lap time of 49.249 seconds. This marks Briscoe’s third career NASCAR Cup Series pole and his second at Daytona.

Briscoe was announced on June 25, 2024, to a multi-year deal with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, starting in 2025 replacing the now-retired Martin Truex Jr.

Austin Cindric, the winner of the 2022 DAYTONA 500, will start alongside Briscoe for the 67th running of the race on Sunday afternoon, locking up the front row for the “Great American Race” in the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford for Team Penske.

Austin Cindric climbs from his car after qualifying on the front row for the DAYTONA 500. (Photo Credit: Donald Jenney | The Podium Finish)

Ford also showed strong performance in qualifying, with the third, fourth, and fifth positions filled by newly signed RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece in the No. 60, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano in the No. 22, and Josh Berry from Wood Brothers Racing, the most recent winner at Daytona in the Cup Series.

The rest of the top ten in qualifying included the fastest driver from the first practice of Speedweeks earlier in the day, Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Toyota) in sixth, followed by Austin Dillon (No. 3 Chevrolet) in seventh, Christopher Bell (N0. 20 Toyota) in eighth, Ty Dillon (No. 10 Chevrolet) in ninth—who is Austin Dillon’s younger brother—and finally, Kyle Larson (No. 5 Chevrolet), a six-time Cup Series winner from 2024, completing round two of qualifying in tenth place.

Of the nine open cars that were looking to qualify for the 40-car field for Sunday’s event, Truex, the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion and recent retiree from full-time Cup Series competition, got the established NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series program, TRICON Garage, into their first-ever DAYTONA 500 and NASCAR Cup Series race on speed, ultimately winding up 22nd in round one.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson outperformed the other six open cars during qualifying, securing the second and final spot for cars to qualify for the DAYTONA 500 based on speed. This achievement adds a third car for Legacy Motor Club in the race.

Briscoe spoke with Fox Sports pit reporter Regan Smith in a post-qualifying interview about how he feels about claiming Toyota its first pole in the DAYTONA 500 since the manufacturer came into the sport back in 2007 as well as how he feels himself about the accomplishment.

”Yea, it’s a great way to start our season,” Briscoe said. “What an unbelievable way to start off with Toyota to be able to be the guy to deliver the first in anything when they’ve already accomplished so much which is pretty cool.

“To think that I’m going to start on the pole for ‘The Great American Race’ with honestly the ultimate great American brand of Bass Pro Shops is unbelievable.”

“Huge credit to the guys on the No. 2 car, you know building a fast race car, and obviously a lot of fast Fords in the field,” said Austin Cindric after he led the charge for the Ford manufacturer during qualifying for the DAYTONA 500. “It’s pretty cool to start on the front row with one of my good friends (Chase Briscoe), but all-in-all, it’s a great box check for the start of this week.”

Seven open cars that did not secure a spot based on speed will need to finish ahead of the other open car competitors in their respective duels to qualify for the Daytona 500. The seven cars competing for the final two transfer spots are Corey LaJoie (No. 01 Ford), Justin Allgaier (No. 40 Chevrolet), JJ Yeley (No. 44 Chevrolet), Anthony Alfredo (No. 62 Chevrolet), Chandler Smith (No. 66 Ford), BJ McLeod (No. 78 Chevrolet), and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves (No. 91 Chevrolet).

Castroneves will be locked into the race no matter the circumstances due to NASCAR’s new rule that grants a guaranteed starting spot to “world-class drivers” in a NASCAR Cup Series event. If Castroneves is unable to race his way through the duels, the field will expand to 41 cars, making it the largest DAYTONA 500 field in over a decade.

The Daytona Duels will take place at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13 airing on FS1 at 7:30 pm EST.

DAYTONA 500 Qualifying Results (Top 10 Advanced To Round 2)