Ross Chastain seized the Daytona pole with a blistering 48.809‑second lap, putting him a fraction ahead of Chris Buescher, who followed on a 48.860‑second run.
“I’m not sure that we expected that leaving the shop, to be honest,” Chastain said after the session. “You’re always trying to be efficient—less drag and more grip with the new package. Hats off to Trackhouse, ECR. It was a Busch Light pole award, and as a Busch Light driver, this means a lot.”
Front‐row finish and the rest of the top ten
Austin Hill rounded out the top three, with Ryan Preece and Riley Herbst taking fourth and fifth places. Shane van Gisbergen followed in sixth, Connor Zilisch seventh, and Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson wrapped up the top ten.
Open‑car contention for the final grid spot
Four non‑chartered teams fought for one of the last four places on a 40‑car grid. Casey Mears (No. 62 Beard Motorsports) and Daniel Dye (No. 78 Live Fast) secured spots, while Joey Gase (No. 44 NY Racing) made the field by 0.125 seconds. Corey Heim (No. 67 23XI Racing) earned the highest open‑driver starting position at 11th.
Gray Gaulding (No. 66 “Garage 66”) failed to qualify, his first Cup start in three years ending abruptly after a rear diffuser mishap at turns one and two.
Qualifying rounds raise the bar
In the first round, Riley Herbst led the field halfway with a 48.949‑second lap. Ryan Preece chipped away with 48.897 seconds. Joey Logano was the fastest of the round, beating Heim by 0.004 seconds. Ty Gibbs temporarily lost a lap as caution lights lit during his run, but he still recovered to finish 14th after a second attempt.
The second round saw a tightening of times. Logano posted 49.074 seconds, closely followed by Austin Cindric’s 49.071 and Shane van Gisbergen’s 49.019. Chris Buescher then surged past with a 48.859‑second lap, but Ross Chastain ultimately topped the session with a 48.808‑second lap, clinching the pole.
With the pole secured, the fortunes of each driver will shift dramatically as the race approaches; the qualifying battles have set the stage for a fiercely contested weekend at Daytona.
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