{"id":469709,"date":"2026-02-12T07:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T07:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/469709\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T07:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T07:23:10","slug":"there-were-four-winners-after-daytona-500-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/469709\/","title":{"rendered":"There were four winners after Daytona 500 qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

As always by the end of Wednesday night at the modern Daytona 500, there were four groups of winners after qualifying for the Great American Race.<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch<\/a> and the Richard Childress Racing<\/a> No. 8
Chase Briscoe<\/a> and Joe Gibbs Racing<\/a> No. 19
Corey Heim and the 23XI Racing<\/a> No. 67
Justin Allgaier<\/a> and the JR Motorsports<\/a> No. 40<\/p>\n

Busch and Briscoe locked into the front row while Heim and Allgaier posted the two fastest laps amongst the non-chartered teams. In other words, this leaves Corey Lajoie<\/a>, Chandler Smith<\/a> and Casey Mears<\/a> set to race it out for a spot in Qualifying Race No. 1 and Anthony Alfredo, BJ McLeod<\/a> and JJ Yeley<\/a> racing it out in Qualifying Race No. 2.<\/p>\n

For Busch, this is his 21st year in pursuit of the one trophy most obviously missing from his case, but he picked up another one he hadn\u2019t earned previously with a Daytona 500 pole too.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it’s a box we got to check,\u201d Busch said. \u201cHere we are. This is an opportunity to be able to do that. I’ve come down here a lot of years. I think I finished in about every position possible. It would be nice to close out 2026 with a victory here in the Daytona 500.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kyle <\/p>\n

Kyle Busch and Richard Childress after winning pole position for the 2026 Daytona 500<\/p>\n

Photo by: Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Does it get annoying that it\u2019s the same question every year? Is this the year you\u2019re going to win the Daytona 500?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just got to get the job done so we stop talking about it,\u201d Busch said. \u201cNo better time than right now here in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just the nature of what this race is and what it holds. Being in the right place at the right time, making the right moves when you can. We were just talking about it. It would be nice to lead all 200 laps, stink up the show and win this thing. I don’t think you’ll make it on fuel if you did that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s all kinds of different strategies. There’s going to be 30 other guys plus that have that same opportunity that they believe they can win this race as well, too. That’s why you got to run the place and play it all out as it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big confidence booster for new crew chief Jim Pohlman too. Busch said Pohlman was resolute on Wednesday morning that this was achievable. Everyone has bought into his process this winter and have been immediately rewarded for it.<\/p>\n

Team owner Richard Childress offered similar praise for Pohlman but also made the next edict really clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting Jim on and just watching how he fit into our family at RCR, it’s great,\u201d Childress said. \u201cI stand back and watch a lot. To watch how they worked this winter, the way they just do everything right now, I’m just happy and proud of all of ’em.<\/p>\n

\u201cKyle, we got to get this 500.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

Giddy Briscoe<\/p>\n

Chase Briscoe says he feels like a Hendrick Motorsports<\/a> driver after his second consecutive front row lock.<\/p>\n

“I felt like forever Hendrick cars on the front row, seven, eight years in a row,\u201d Briscoe said. “It’s cool for sure to be able to consistently two years in a row now. It’s really a testament to the folks back at JGR. We’ve made so many improvements on our superspeedway program. This race really comes down to, at least in qualifying, attention to detail (and) just doing every little thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out of a Joe Gibbs Racing group that is holistically elite at so many things, that the 19 team is continually breaking through as one of the leaders of the pack excites him.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a lot of pride in that, right,\u201d Briscoe said. \u201cI know for me, every week when I get in the car, I know I’m in arguably the best car every single week. When we come here and do stuff like we’ve done two years in a row validates that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the kid in me to be able to lead the field to green two years — not lead the field, but being in the front row, for two years in a row at the Daytona 500.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

Second helpings<\/p>\n

Last year, when Allgaier and JR Motorsports qualified their way into the Daytona 500, there was exuberance and joy.<\/p>\n

This year, there was pride, but it also felt like business as usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, I think last year was so different emotionally,\u201d Allgaier said. \u201cI think, too, there is a lot of — I think everybody in our group feels the want to go be better this year, right?<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year we wanted to get in, we wanted to make laps and get JR Motorsports in the racetrack for the first time and do all these things. We hit all those markers, finished in the top 10, and it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, they want to lead laps and be one of the dominant cars, and maybe go challenge for the Harley J. Earl.<\/p>\n

\"Justin <\/p>\n

Justin Allgaier, No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet<\/p>\n

Photo by: Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images<\/p>\n

For co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/a>, a historian of the sport, he got to fully enjoy what it was like back in the day with a car that was good enough to make the show on time but still needed to sweat it out.<\/p>\n

There was no open exemption provisional for JR Motorsports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got here today and we had some nerves,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cI kept thinking, Man, this is why it’s fun. If it was all handed to you, it wouldn’t be as much fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing down here nervous and scared, standing out there worried, wondering if you’d run a good enough lap. I mean, that really is the payoff to being in racing and motorsports. It’s the anxiety and stuff, but it’s really enjoyable because when it works out, it’s such a great feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnjoyed the process and everything out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allgaier claimed the final Wednesday lock-in by 0.004 over Lajoie.<\/p>\n

Earnhardt is just living his best life once again chasing the biggest win of the year, something he did twice as a driver, but now in his new lot in life as an owner. His second appearance in the Daytona 500 is just as cool as the first.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say this is like just having more dessert, man,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cWe ate the whole course last year, and we’re getting to be back for seconds at the dessert table, just have a little more. Feel like we’re in bonus time, if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Also:<\/p>\n

Heim time<\/p>\n

Corey Heim knows what it\u2019s like to fail to qualify for a NASCAR Cup Series race. It was last year in Downtown Chicago and he didn\u2019t want to experience that on a much larger scale in his first-ever attempt in the Daytona 500.<\/p>\n

Last July, he just sent it hard into a corner going for a pole lap, but hit the wall and broke a toe link. This time, with superspeedway qualifying, it\u2019s a little more procedural and no braking whatsoever, but the pressure is real nevertheless.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, it’s definitely been a lot of pressure,\u201d Heim said. \u201cIt’s been stressful I think just as a driver. You never can guarantee that you’re going to lock in qualifying. Looking back at last year, I kind of was able to see which teams were successful in the speedway qualifying side of things. It’s 99 percent car if not more as far as where you qualify here.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust kind of looking back at the other teams and how they qualified, I was like, \u2018Dang, it’s going to be pretty tight,\u2019 depending on how we unload.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Corey <\/p>\n

Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota<\/p>\n

Photo by: Patrick McDermott via Getty Images<\/p>\n

However, one percent could be the difference between locking in and needing to race via the Daytona Duel.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely was stressful coming down here to lock myself in,\u201d Heim said. \u201cYeah, I can’t say enough about the piece we brought. Such a relief off your shoulders to just go have some fun in the Duels tomorrow, try to learn. Even if I do make a mistake, it’s not going to be a terminal mistake. That’s definitely a relief, and I’m looking forward to the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

What stands out to him is that no one at 23XI made him feel guilty for his mistake at Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, kind of like I said earlier, this is so dependent on the car that 23XI brings to the racetrack,\u201d Heim said. \u201cObviously they brought a really good one for me. That’s what helped me lock into the show, whereas Chicago was just a mess-up on my part. Apples to oranges.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we’re all a team, all one. 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. Worked their tails off to bring me a great Daytona 500 car. Super cool feeling to have that support. No one gave up on me after that race. Hopefully we can build off of this one and go race on Sunday and go compete in some more after this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As always by the end of Wednesday night at the modern Daytona 500, there were four groups of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,19546,2884,634,3628,82,191313],"class_list":["post-469709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-daytona-500","tag-daytona-international-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-cup","tag-sports","tag-there-were-four-winners-after-daytona-500-qualifying"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}