Daytona 500 lineup: Full starting grid for NASCAR's biggest race
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Daytona 500 lineup: Full starting grid for NASCAR's biggest race
Steve Gardner, USA TODAYFebruary 15, 2026 at 5:08 AM
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Kyle Busch earned his first Daytona 500 pole in his 21st attempt and will look to make that translate into his first-ever Daytona 500 victory when the green flag drops Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
The Richard Childress Racing driver earned the top spot in qualifying by just 0.016 seconds over Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe.
The field will start their engines a little earlier than originally scheduled after NASCAR officials moved the race up by an hour in an effort to avoid rain showers expected to hit northern Florida during the afternoon.
Busch had the fastest time of qualifying overall in his first run with a 48.933. He was the only driver to break 49 seconds during qualifying; his eventual pole lap came in at a 49.006. Behind Busch and Briscoe, the rest of the 41-car lineup was set by the results of the Daytona Duels on Thursday, Feb. 12.
As we get set for the 68th running of The Great American Race, here's how the starting grid looks:
Daytona 500 lineup 2026
NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (8) and Chase Briscoe (19) celebrate after securing the front row during qualifying for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb 11, 2026. -
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing
Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing
Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports
Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66
Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports
Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team
Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club
Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports
Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing
Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing
Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing
Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports
Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Legacy Motor Club
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing
Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing
Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing
Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing
*BJ McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports
Justin Allgaier, No. 40 JR Motorsports
Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing
* The No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet of Anthony Alfredo originally qualified for the Daytona 500 in Duel 2, but his position in the race was disallowed due to a failure in post-Duel inspection.
When is the 2026 Daytona 500? -
Date: Sunday, Feb. 15
Start time: 1:30 p.m. ET
Location: Daytona International Speedway (Daytona Beach, Florida)
TV: Fox
Streaming: Fubo (free trial), Sling
Defending champion: William Byron
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daytona 500 starting lineup: Full order for 2026 NASCAR season opener
Source: “AOL Sports”
