Chase Briscoe Claims Daytona 500 Pole in Point-Race Debut with JGR
For anyone, who expected Chase Briscoe's Joe Gibbs Racing tenure to get off to a sluggish start in 2025, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE made a statement by taking the pole position for Sunday's 67th-annual Daytona 500 in Wednesday's qualifying session.
In the final round of qualifying, Briscoe admits he wasn't quite perfect, but his 49.249 seconds (182.745 mph) lap was enough to secure the 30-year-old driver his first career Daytona 500 pole position by a margin of 0.076 seconds over Team Penske's Austin Cindric.
RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Qualifying Results
Briscoe winning the Daytona 500 pole is obviously a far cry from the driver collecting a Harley J. Earl trophy (awarded to the Daytona 500 race winner each year), but Briscoe says his pole-winning run was the culmination of Joe Gibbs Racing making a concerted effort over the offseason to improve its qualifying game at drafting tracks.
"It is the pole, we'd much rather win the race, but still, it's neat regardless. And even this whole offseason, a lot of the emphasis at JGR has been to qualify better at superspeedways. They felt that was the biggest area where they lacked," Briscoe explained.
Incredibly, Briscoe's pole -- the third of his NASCAR Cup Series career -- is the second-ever Daytona 500 pole for Joe Gibbs Racing (Bobby Labonte won the Daytona 500 pole in 1998), and it also marks the first-ever pole position at Daytona International Speedway for Toyota.
"Yeah, I mean, truthfully, they've done this so much, it's hard to do anything for the first time with Toyota. So, to be able to do it in my first race is super, super cool. Super special," Briscoe said in his post-qualifying press conference. "It means a lot to Toyota."
Starting up front comes with the added bonus of the best pit stall on pit road, and now Briscoe and his crew chief James Small will attempt to cling to control of the Daytona 500 for the remainder of the weekend.
"You still have to execute. You can still start 40th [and win at Daytona], [or] you can still start on the pole. You still have to execute and put yourself in position all race long," Briscoe said. "You know, I think there's pros and cons to the front row. I think, the pro is definitely from a track position standpoint, it's hard to get now. So, starting up front makes it easier, but the con is that you're going to burn more fuel starting on the front row too."
While Cindric came up just shy of his first-career Daytona 500 pole position, the 2022 Daytona 500 champion is proud of the effort from his Team Penske organization, which has placed one of its cars on the front row in back-to-back Daytona 500s.
"I think it certainly sends a message, right? I mean, obviously, having a fast race car. But it gets us to see our cars. And our team is certainly second to none," Cindric said. "So, super proud of my guys on the [No.] 2 car, but everybody back at Team Penske. I know everyone takes a lot of pride in coming to this race with really fast cars."
Just missing out on the front row were Ryan Preece who was third-fastest in qualifying, and Joey Logano was fourth.
Briscoe and Cindric locked into the front row starting spots, and along with them, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, who are two of the nine "Open" entries this year at Daytona, officially locked up a place in the starting field for Sunday's race.
Truex (22nd-fastest overall) and Johnson (29th-fastest overall) were the two fastest "Open" entry drivers in Wednesday's qualifying session. With Truex making the race, it also means TRICON Garage will officially make the organization's first-ever NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend.
The other seven Open drivers and teams will attempt to advance to the 40-car starting lineup from Thursday's Duel Qualifier Races.
Justin Allgaier was the third-fastest "Open" driver in qualifying as he clocked in 33rd-fastest. Allgaier is attempting to secure the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series start for JR Motorsports.
Corey LaJoie (35th), Helio Castroneves (39th), Anthony Alfredo (40th), Chandler Smith (42nd), BJ McLeod (43rd), and JJ Yeley (44th) are the other "Open" drivers looking to secure one of the two remaining spots in the field in Thursday's Duels.
If Castroneves fails to advance to the 40-car starting lineup on Thursday night, he will be awarded the Open Exemption Provisional, a new provisional created by NASCAR designed to automatically allow a world-class driver to start NASCAR Cup Series races. This would expand the Daytona 500 field to 41 cars if Castroneves has to utilize the provisional.
To find out which "Open" drivers will lock into the Daytona 500 starting grid, and to see the complete Daytona 500 starting lineup be filled, tune into the Duel Qualifier Races on Thursday night. Duel 1 and 2 will be televised on FS1 (streamable on the FOX Sports App), and coverage of the races begins at 7:00 PM ET.
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.