Joey Logano saved his best qualifying lap for last and the result netted him the Busch Light Pole Award for this year’s 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway following the event’s single-car, two-round qualifying session on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
The qualifying format that determined the front row and pole winner of this year’s Daytona 500 event was based on two qualifying rounds comprised of a single-lap session for each competitor. Following the first round, the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42 transferred to the second and final single-lap round to contend for the pole and a front-row starting spot.
During the qualifying session, Logano, who was the fastest qualifier during the first qualifying round, repeated his strong, early performance by claiming the pole position for this year’s Great American Race. He posted a pole-winning lap at 181.947 mph in 49.465 seconds in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which was enough to outperform Michael McDowell, who qualified with the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds.
With his accomplishment, Logano, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and the 2015 Daytona 500 champion, became the 45th competitor to claim the pole position for the Great American Race as he also notched his 29th Cup Series career pole and first on a superspeedway venue.
Logano also snapped Chevrolet’s 11-year pole-winning streak by achieving Ford’s first 500 pole since Carl Edwards in 2012 and he became the first non-Hendrick Motorsports competitor to win the pole position for the 500 since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the last accomplishment in 2020. As a result, Logano also recorded the first Daytona 500 pole award for Team Penske as he strives to battle for his second Great American Race victory this upcoming Sunday, Feb. 18.
“This [pole] is all about the team,” Logano said on FS1. “I’d like to take credit, but I can’t today. The guys have done such an amazing job working on these cars. This superspeedway qualifying is a hundred percent the car. There’s only so much a driver can do, so I’m really proud of [the team]. It’s a big win for our team, for everyone at Team Penske, Ford with the new Dark Horse Mustang. Being able to come down here and put in on the pin. Finally, someone else wins the pole. That part feels good. I’ve never even been close to a superspeedway pole before, so it’s my first pole in a speedway. It couldn’t be at a cooler event [than], obviously, Daytona 500. Huge deal for Team Penske.”
Joining Logano on the front row for this year’s Daytona 500 and for the first time in his career is Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 champion who qualified in his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports. Ironically, this year’s Daytona 500 marks the first time Ford competitors have swept the front-row starting spots since Edwards and Greg Biffle in 2012. McDowell’s win at last year’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course enabled him to qualify for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs and strive to contend for a second Daytona 500 victory.
Kyle Larson, the 2022 Daytona 500 pole winner and the 2021 Cup Series champion, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 181.550 mph in 49.550 seconds and will be one of the remaining 40 competitors to vie for their official starting spots for the 500 through a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duel that will take place on Thursday, Feb. 15. Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott completed the top five in qualifying time and speed while William Byron, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and Harrison Burton, all of whom advanced to the second and final qualifying round, rounded out the top 10 on the qualifying chart.
Todd Gilliland, who was one of 32 competitors who did not transfer to the second qualifying session, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 180.339 mph in 49.903 seconds followed by Riley Herbst, Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez and Anthony Alfredo.
Alfredo and David Ragan were also victorious along with Logano and McDowell as both achieved guaranteed starting spots for this year’s Daytona 500 by being the two fastest non-chartered qualifiers of six on the leaderboard.
Alfredo ended up being the fastest non-chartered competitor on the leaderboard after posting his qualifying lap at 179.648 mph in 50.098 seconds, which was enough to claim 20th place on the leaderboard. With his accomplishment, Alfredo, a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Our Motorsports and a part-time Cup competitor in Beard Motorsports’ No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry this season, will make his second career start in the Daytona 500 after making his first with Front Row Motorsports in 2021. In addition, Beard Motorsports, who did not make the 500 field last season, will appear in the 500 for a sixth time this upcoming Sunday.
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“This is insane,” Alfredo said. “We were just talking about every possible scenario we might find ourselves in today, tomorrow and obviously, Sunday, but to make it to Sunday’s a challenge. It was such a competitive field of open cars and drivers behind the wheel. I’m just really thankful for the Beard family [for] giving me this opportunity and Death Wish Coffee coming on board. We have, clearly, a fast Chevrolet Camaro. To know that we’re in [the Daytona 500] and cannot have to race in tomorrow [via the Duels] and just remove ourselves from some of the sketchy circumstances and focus on Sunday is just an amazing feeling.”
Ragan posted the 27th-fastest qualifying lap at 179.283 mph in 50.200 seconds, which was enough for him to outperform Jimmie Johnson, who posted the 35th-fastest lap at 178.845 mph in 50.323 seconds. With his accomplishment, Ragan, who is piloting Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse as part of the team’s #Stage60 program, will make his 17th appearance in the Great American Race this Sunday and his first since the 2022 season. This year’s Daytona 500 will mark his first Cup start as a Roush competitor since the 2011 season as Ragan will also be pursuing his first 500 victory.
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“It’s always big to be in the Daytona 500 and the whole week, I’ve just been trying to make sure we didn’t have any mistakes,” Ragan said. “I really feel like we were gonna have a shot at a top-10 or top-12 starting spot, but it just shows all the hard work this BuildSubmarines.com Ford team has done. I’m really proud for [crew chief] Derrick [Finley] and proud for the whole [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing] guys. I appreciate [owners] Brad Keselowski and Jack Roush [for] giving me an opportunity to come down here to try to win a Daytona 500.”
The remaining open competitors including Jimmie Johnson, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley and Kaz Grala will compete for the final two open spots for this weekend’s Daytona 500 through Thursday’s Duels.
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for Feb. 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. First, on Thursday, Feb. 15, the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel is slated to commence at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Duel event will follow suit at approximately at 8:45 p.m. ET on FS1.
Seventy days after the final checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season flew, the time until the first green flag of the 2024 Cup Series season displays is four days away from occurring. For the teams and competitors who enter this season with the desire to gain a competitive edge over one another, the long regular-season battle to the Playoffs commences with this weekend’s 66th annual running of the Great American Race.
The Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, with the event’s iconic Haley J. Earl Trophy, is up for grabs and epic bragging rights to forever be labeled a Daytona 500 champion.
Before this year’s Daytona 500 occurs, however, the teams and competitors will have to battle amongst one another through the event’s iconic two-day qualifying procedure that would enable them to achieve and earn a starting spot as high as possible over one another. What makes the Daytona 500’s qualifying procedure iconic?
In comparison to 35 of 36 scheduled events where the starting grid for a Cup Series event is determined one day before the main event, the qualifying format for the Daytona 500 is distinct, where it once took a week until the starting lineup for the Daytona 500 is determined. Since the 2021 season, it would take between three and four days until the official starting grid for the Great American Race would be determined.
The qualifying format for this year’s Daytona 500 commences with a single-car qualifying procedure on Wednesday, February 14, where each of the registered competitors (42 total in 2024) will run one timed lap around the 2.5-mile superspeedway venue. The single-car qualifying procedure will span two rounds, with the second round featuring the top 10 fastest competitors to contend for the pole position for the Daytona 500. At the conclusion of the second qualifying session, the competitor who generates the fastest lap time will be awarded the Busch Light Pole Award for the Daytona 500 while the competitor who generates the second-fastest lap time will be awarded the second-place starting spot for the 500-mile season opener, thus guaranteeing both front row starting spots for the main event.
The single-car qualifying procedure/sessions on Wednesday will also be a night of epic rewards for two competitors competing in open-chart (“open”) entries, meaning that their respective cars are not guaranteed a starting spot for the Daytona 500 due to not having a charter. At the conclusion of the single-car qualifying procedure, the top two open-chartered competitors who post the top two fastest qualifying times compared to the remaining open-chartered competitors will be guaranteed starting spots for the Great American Race based on their qualifying speed.
The rest of the competitors, including the open-charted teams currently not guaranteed a starting spot, will battle one another for their official starting spots for the Daytona 500 through a pair of Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona that will occur on Thursday, February 15.
The first Bluegreen Vacation Duel at Daytona will consist of competitors who qualified in the odd positions during Wednesday’s single-car qualifying procedure, including the Daytona 500 pole winner, with the event spanning 60 laps. The second Duel event that will follow suit and also span 60 laps will consist of competitors who qualified in the even positions during the qualifying procedure, including the Daytona 500 second-place starter.
At the conclusion of both Duel events, the winning competitor in each Duel will be awarded the second-row starting spots, third and fourth place, for the Daytona 500. In the scenario where the Daytona 500 pole winner or second-place starter wins their respective Duel events while also retaining the front-row starting spots for the Great American Race, the third- and fourth-place starting spot will be awarded to the runner-up finisher between both Duel events.
Each finishing result in the first Duel event will determine the official starting lineup for the odd (“inside lane”) row for the Daytona 500, with the winner starting in third place for the 500, second starting fifth, third starting seventh, etc., in the respective order, while the finishing result in the second Duel event will determine the lineup for the even (“outside lane”) row for the 500, with the winner starting in fourth place, second starting sixth, third starting eighth, etc. In addition, the top-10 finishing competitors between both Duel events will be awarded points that count towards the regular-season stretch but not towards the Playoffs, with the winning competitor receiving 10 points while the 10th-place finisher receives just one.
Lastly and transitioning back to the theme of open-charter teams, the highest-finishing non-chartered competitor between both Duel events will secure a starting spot for the Daytona 500. If the highest-finishing non-chartered competitor in a Duel happens to be a competitor who is already guaranteed a starting spot for the 500 based on Wednesday’s single-car qualifying procedure, the next fastest non-chartered competitor will be awarded a spot in the Great American Race.
Upon completion of both Duel events, the starting spots 1st through 40th for this year’s 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 will be officially determined in preparation for the main event that will occur on Sunday, February 18. Even before the main event, the qualified Cup Series teams and competitors will then practice around Daytona once on Friday, February 16, at 5:35 p.m. ET on FS1 before practicing for the second and final time on Saturday, February 17, at 10:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
The 2024 Daytona 500 entry list features 42 competitors registered to battle for 40 starting spots for the main event, meaning that two non-chartered competitors will not make the main event on Sunday, February 18. This year’s open-chartered competitors feature Anthony Alfredo, Kaz Grala, Jimmie Johnson, BJ McLeod and David Ragan. NY Racing, a non-chartered team, is also entered for this weekend’s event, though a driver has yet to be named. From this list of six, two names will have their names locked into the 500 after Wednesday’s single-car qualifying procedure and two more will be locked in after Thursday’s Duels.
Currently, Johnson is the only non-chartered competitor from last season to return for another bid to claim a starting spot for this year’s 500. The seven-time Cup Series champion and two-time Daytona 500 champion from El Cajon, California, raced his way into last year’s 500 based on his qualifying speed and during his first event as a driver/co-owner of Legacy Motor Club. Returning for his first of nine planned Cup events this season, Johnson, who was also inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in mid-January, will bid for his 21st start and potentially his third victory in the Great American Race.
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Earlier on Tuesday, February 13, the qualifying order for Wednesday’s single-car qualifying procedure was determined based on a random draw, where the ordered competitors will roll off of pit lane to post a single qualifying lap and contend for pole position for the Daytona 500. Following the random draw, newcomer Carson Hocevar will qualify first followed by Anthony Alfredo, Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, Justin Haley, David Ragan, AJ Allmendinger, BJ McLeod, John Hunter Nemechek and Riley Herbst.
This past season, Alex Bowman notched his third pole award and his sixth consecutive front-row starting spot for the Daytona 500 after the Tucson, Arizona, native posted a pole-winning lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds, where he shared the front row with teammate Kyle Larson. Bowman’s 2023 Daytona 500 pole also marked the eighth 500 pole award in nine years for Hendrick Motorsports and the 11th consecutive year where the Chevrolet nameplate achieved a pole for the Great American Race. Bowman will attempt to join Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott and Cale Yarborough in achieving the most Daytona 500 poles with four entering the 2024 season while Larson will attempt to win his second 500 pole after winning his first in 2022.
During the 2023 Daytona Speedweeks, Joey Logano and Aric Almirola each won a Bluegreen Vacations Duel while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would proceed to win the 65th running of the Daytona 500 amid two overtime shootouts and emerging out in front of Logano and the field prior to a final multi-car wreck. Stenhouse’s victory made him the 42nd different competitor to win the Great American Race as he also delivered the first 500 victory for JTG-Daugherty Racing and veteran crew chief Mike Kelley. Stenhouse and Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 champion, are set to contend for this year’s 500 event as full-time Cup Series competitors for JTG-Daugherty Racing and Team Penske, respectively, while Almirola has scaled back to the Xfinity Series on a part-time basis with Joe Gibbs Racing.
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The 2024 Daytona 500 Qualifying session is scheduled to occur on Wednesday, February 14, and air at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1. The Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona will follow suit on Thursday, February 15, and air beginning at 7 p.m. ET on FS1. The 66th running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled to commence on Sunday, February 18, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
With this week set to mark the official commencement of the 2024 NASCAR season, the first wave of entry lists across NASCAR’s top three national touring series was revealed on Monday, February 12, as the registered teams and competitors prepare to ignite a new season of competition with a trio of season-opening events at Daytona International Speedway.
Currently, 38 competitors are registered to contend for 36 starting spots for this year’s Craftsman Truck Series season-opening Fresh from Florida 250 which is set to occur at Daytona this Friday, February 16. In addition, 44 competitors are registered for 38 starting spots for this year’s Xfinity Series season-opening United Rentals 300 which will follow suit on Saturday, February 17. Lastly, 42 competitors will contend for 40 starting spots for this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 which will occur on Sunday, February 18. For the 500, the entry list includes NY Racing’s No. 44 entry that has yet to have a driver set to compete in the ride throughout Daytona Speedweeks.
With each of the three national touring series entry lists featuring a mixture of new and familiar names, the common theme that all three lists share highlights a bevy of names who will contend for a first-time victory within their respective series either for this upcoming weekend at Daytona International Speedway or ever as the 2024 NASCAR season progresses.
For the Truck Series opener at Daytona, 27 of 38 registered competitors (full-time and part-time) currently have no victories logged within their resumes, which is 71% of the field. In addition, all but three participants have never won a Truck event at Daytona, which is 92% of the field.
Since the Truck Series first raced at Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway venue in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2000, 20 competitors have won at least once in the series at Daytona. The most recent was Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion who won the last two scheduled events at Daytona (2022 & 2023). With Smith set to compete in the Cup Series this season for Spire Motorsports and not registered in this year’s Truck list, the honorable mention of the most recent Daytona Truck winner for this season is Ben Rhodes, who won for the first time at Daytona in 2021 and is the reigning series champion. In addition to Rhodes, Grant Enfinger (2020) and Johnny Sauter (2013, 2016 & 2018) are the only other participants for this season who have previously won a Truck event at Daytona. Rhodes and Enfinger are full-time Truck Series competitors while Sauter is currently scheduled to compete in this weekend’s opener at Daytona as part of his part-time campaign with Niece Motorsports.
With Rhodes and Enfinger also set to bid for spots in this year’s Truck Series Playoff field, Corey Heim, a five-time race winner in the series who currently competes for TRICON Garage, headlines a long list of full-time competitors who have yet to win at Daytona for the first time as he also strives for another championship bid after falling short during last year’s Championship 4 battle. Among other notables include Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski and Matt Crafton, all of whom made the Playoffs during the previous season.
The Truck event at Daytona is also known to generate first-time winners, with the first occurrence dating back to 2002 when Robert Pressley won in his first series start. Since then, five other competitors (Michael Waltrip 2011, John King 2012, Tyler Reddick 2015, Kaz Grala 2017 and Austin Hill 2019) have accomplished this feat.
For this season, Toni Breidinger and Nick Sanchez headline a long list of names who have yet to win in the Truck circuit for the first time. Breidinger, who will be pulling double-duty efforts this weekend alongside her full-time campaign in the ARCA Menards Series with Venturini Motorsports, will pilot the No. 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for TRICON Garage as part of a part-time campaign in the series while Sanchez, the reigning Rookie-of-the-Year recipient, returns to pilot the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Rev Racing on a full-time basis. Other notables of potential first-time winners include Chase Purdy, Jake Garcia, brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Daniel Dye and Dean Thompson, all of whom ended up in the top 20 in last year’s final standings. Corey LaJoie, a full-time Cup Series competitor for Spire Motorsports, is another notable who has yet to win in the Truck Series as he will pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire this Friday at Daytona.
With 38 registered competitors vying for 36 starting spots, however, two will not make the field, which will be determined following the series’ qualifying session that will occur on Friday, February 16, at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.
For the Xfinity Series’ opener at Daytona, 30 of 44 registered competitors have yet to achieve a victory in the series, which is 68% of the field. In addition, all but three participants have yet to record an Xfinity victory at Daytona, which is 93% of the field.
Since the inception of the Xfinity Series and their first competition in 1982, 38 competitors have won at Daytona at least once. The list of competitors who have won at Daytona includes the season-opening event that spans 300 miles and the second event that occurs in late summer and currently spans 250 miles. This past season, Austin Hill notched his second consecutive Daytona opener win in February while Justin Allgaier edged Sheldon Creed by 0.005 seconds to notch his first victory at Daytona after 26 previous attempts. Hill and Allgaier are full-time competitors in the Xfinity circuit as both are set to campaign for additional bids to make the Playoffs and contend for the series’ championship.
This year, Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity champion for Stewart-Haas Racing, headlines a bevy of competitors who will be pursuing one of two opportunities to win at Daytona for the first time. Other notables include Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Jeb Burton, Riley Herbst and Brandon Jones, all of whom finished in the top 15 in the final Xfinity driver’s standings last season.
Like the Truck Series, the pair of Xfinity events at Daytona is known to generate first-time winners, with eight competitors in total achieving the feat. Among the names include Dale Earnhardt (1982), Chad Little (1995), Tony Stewart (2005), James Buescher (2012), Ryan Reed (2015), Michael Annett (2019), Noah Gragson (2020) and Austin Hill (2022), all of whom made the accomplishment during the season-opening 300-mile event in February.
For the 2024 season, Jesse Love, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion, headlines a bevy of competitors seeking a first Xfinity victory anywhere as he assumes the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing for his inaugural full-time campaign in the series. Other notables include Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams, Kyle Sieg, Brennan Poole and Ryan Ellis, all of whom settled in the top 25 in the final driver’s standings in 2023.
Other notables who highlight the Xfinity opener’s entry list include Daniel Suarez, Hailie Deegan, Ryan Truex, John Hunter Nemechek, Sage Karam, Jordan Anderson, Frankie Muniz, Natalie Decker and Shane van Gisbergen, all of whom will either contend for either a first Xfinity win at Daytona, in general or combined.
With 44 competitors vying for 38 spots, six will not make the field, which will be determined following the series’ qualifying session that will occur on Saturday, February 17, at 11:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Lastly for the Cup Series, 15 of 41 registered competitors have never won in NASCAR’s premier series, which is approximately 37% of the field. This excludes NY Racing’s No. 44 entry that has yet to be filled. In addition, 34 of 41 competitors have yet to win the Great American Race at least once, which is approximately 83% of the field.
During the previous 65 years of Cup Series competition, 42 competitors achieved at least one victory in the Daytona 500. The most recent newcomer added to this prestigious list was Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who capitalized during two overtime shootouts to emerge out in front amid a final lap multi-car wreck to win while driving for JTG-Daugherty Racing.
The competitor who headlines a long list of competitors who have yet to win the Daytona 500 is Martin Truex Jr., who will make his 20th career start in the Great American Race this season while also embarking on his 19th full-time season as a Cup competitor. To date, Truex’s best result in the 500 is second after he was edged by Denny Hamlin by 0.010 seconds in 2016, which marks the closest-recorded finish in the 500’s history. Additional notables include Kyle Busch (19th attempt in 2024), David Ragan (17th attempt), Brad Keselowski (15th attempt), Kyle Larson and AJ Allmendinger (both making 11th attempt), Ryan Blaney (10th attempt), Chris Buescher and Erik Jones (both making ninth attempt), and the trio Alex Bowman, Erik Jones and Corey LaJoie (all making eighth attempt).
Within the list of 42 names who have won the Daytona 500 at least once, a total of nine competitors scored a first Cup career victory in the Great American Race. The most recent to accomplish this feat was Austin Cindric, who made the accomplishment in 2022 during his eighth Cup career start and would proceed to both make the 2022 Playoffs and claim the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Previously, Michael McDowell notched his first Cup career victory in the 500 and his 358th series start after dodging a final lap multi-car wreck. Other notables to claim a first Cup career victory in the Daytona 500 include Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994), Michael Waltrip (2001 and Trevor Bayne (2011).
This season, Josh Berry and Ty Gibbs headline a group of registered competitors who strive to strike two goals off their bucket lists including winning for the first time both in the 500 and the Cup Series. Other notables include Corey LaJoie, Noah Gragson, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric, Kaz Grala, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek, Anthony Alfredo, Zane Smith, Carson Hocevar and BJ McLeod.
Alfredo, Grala and McLeod will have to contend against David Ragan, Jimmie Johnson and NY Racing’s No. 44 competitor for four vacant spots since they are registered as open-chartered competitors, meaning that two will not make this year’s 500 starting lineup. The Daytona 500 qualifying session will occur on Wednesday, February 14, and air at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1 followed by a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will follow suit on Thursday, February 15, and air beginning at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, which will establish the official starting lineup for the 500.
As the countdown to the official start of the 2024 NASCAR season reaches its final days and hours before commencement, a series of new chapters and new beginnings await for many who strive to gain an early advantage and etch their name as a winner in any series’ opener at the World Center of Racing.
The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is set to commence at Daytona for the Fresh from Florida 250 on Friday, February 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 while the 2024 Xfinity Series season will follow suit for the United Rentals 300 on Saturday, February 17, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1. The 2024 Cup Series season will cap off the weekend by hosting the 66th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Kaulig Racing took to social media to reveal that AJ Allmendinger will be driving the team’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for the 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February 2024.
The news comes 13 days after the 42-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, was announced to return to the Xfinity Series with the Kaulig organization for the 2024 season after spending this past season piloting Kaulig’s No. 16 entry in the Cup Series.
Allmendinger’s bid for the 2024 Daytona 500 indicates that Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 entry will return as the team’s “All-Star” entry for the first time since 2022 and field multiple competitors throughout the 2024 season. Despite Allmendinger scaling back to being a part-time Cup competitor, Kaulig’s No. 16 entry is expected to be guaranteed a starting spot for the event as a locked chartered entry due to contesting in all 36 events throughout the 2023 Cup season, though this remains to be determined. For the 500, Allmendinger will be a teammate alongside Daniel Hemric, who will be piloting Kaulig’s No. 31 entry on a full-time basis as he makes his return to Cup Series competition.
The 2024 Daytona 500 is set to mark Allmendinger’s 11th career apperance in the Great American Race and second in a row for Kaulig Racing. Through 11 previous starts, the Californian has achieved four top-10 results and two career-best third-place finishes in the 500 (2009 & 2017). He claimed a sixth-place finish during last year’s Daytona 500.
This past season, Allmendinger scored a Cup Series victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October, which marked his third win in NASCAR’s premier series. He also recorded four top-five results, seven top-10 results, 64 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.6 throghout the 36-race schedule before settling in 21st place in the final driver’s standings. To go along with his Cup victory at the Charlotte Roval, Allmendinger won two Xfinity Series races (Circuit of the Americas in March and at Nashville Superspeedway in June).
Additional driver plans regarding Kaulig’s No. 16 entry along with Allmendinger’s part-time schedule for the 2024 Cup Series season remains to be determined.
Allmendinger’s 11th Daytona 500 career start and second with Kaulig Racing is scheduled to occur on February 18, 2024, with the event’s broadcast time set to air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Anthony Alfredo has been selected to pilot the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Beard Motorsports throughout Daytona Speedweeks in preparation for the 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February 2024, where he will then attempt to compete at Talladega Superspeedway in April.
The news comes as Beard Motorsports is set to return on a part-time NASCAR Cup Series campaign in 2024, beginning with an eighth consecutive entrance in Daytona Speedweeks and the team’s bid to make the Daytona 500 field, which would mark the team’s sixth qualification for the 500, after missing the event this past season. Due to being a non-chartered team, Beard Motorsports will have to make the 500 either through the Daytona 500 Qualifying session that will occur on February 14 or through one of two Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will occur the following day on February 15.
For Alfredo, the 24-year-old native from Ridgefield, Connecticut, will attempt to become the sixth competitor to compete in a Cup Series event for Beard Motorsports. He previously competed in the entire 2021 Cup season with Front Row Motorsports, where he ended up in 30th place in the final standings on the strength of a single top-10 result and an average-finishing result of 27.5. He also made two Cup starts with Live Fast Motorsports this past season, which occurred at Richmond Raceway and at Martinsville Speedway in April.
Aside from his part-time Cup campaign with Beard Motorsports, Alfredo is set to campaign on a full-time basis in the 2024 Xfinity Series season for Our Motorsports.
“I’m so thankful for this opportunity,” Alfredo said in a released statement. “Every driver that runs stock cars wants to race in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Daytona 500. I’ve been blessed to race at this level against drivers that are childhood heroes of mine. This opportunity with the Beard family is very exciting. They have always fielded great cars in these superspeedway races, so I’m thrilled to get behind the wheel of their No. 62 Chevrolet.”
Beard Motorsports, which is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, and has only a single full-time employee, that being crew chief Darren Shaw, made its Cup Series debut during the 2017 Daytona 500 with veteran Brendan Gaughan. Since then, the team has made 26 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series, primarily at Daytona and Talladega. Within the 26 starts, the team recorded five top-10 results and a career-best fifth-place run with Noah Gragson at Daytona in August 2022. The team’s best result in the Daytona 500 is a seventh-place finish produced by Brendan Gaughan in 2020.
This past season, Austin Hill, an Xfinity Series competitor for Richard Childress Racing, made a total of five Cup starts for Beard Motorsports. Hill’s best result with the team was a 14th-place run at Daytona in August.
“The 2024 season marks our eighth year competing in the NASCAR Cup Series,” Amie Beard, executive vice president of Beard Motorsports, added. “It’s surreal to even be referencing year number eight. This race team is a passion project for all of us. My dad loved the sport and it’s a passion that we now share as a family. It’s what drives this team.”
Beard Motorsports also plans to compete at Daytona in August and at Talladega in October. The team’s driver plans for both events along with additional events to enter remain to be determined.
Alfredo’s first Cup Series campaign with Beard Motorsports commences with the Daytona 500 Qualifying session on February 14 followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway that will occur on February 15 as he attempts to qualify for the 66th running of the Daytona 500 that will follow suit on February 18 and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
In NASCAR’s longest-ever running of the Great American Race to commence the sport’s 75th anniversary of competition, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. muscled his way to win the 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 19, amid two overtime attempts and a series of late carnages.
The 35-year-old Stenhouse from Olive Branch, Mississippi, rallied from a late pit road speeding penalty to take the lead from reigning series champion Joey Logano during the first of two overtime attempts. He then had to endure a second overtime attempt, where he nearly lost the lead on the final lap before a draft from Christopher Bell enabled Stenhouse to fend off Logano and remain ahead of him prior to a vicious multi-car wreck on the final lap that concluded the event under caution and sent the driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team to Victory Lane. In total, Stenhouse led the final 10 of 212 over-scheduled laps.
The starting lineup was determined through two single-car qualifying sessions that occurred on Wednesday, February 15, followed by a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that occurred on Thursday, February 16. For the third time in his career, Alex Bowman started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.057 mph in 49.708 seconds. Joey Logano and Aric Almirola occupied the second row after both won their respective Duels. The only competitor to drop at the rear of the field was Kyle Busch in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the second Duel event.
When the green flag waved and the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced, teammates Bowman and Larson dueled for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes entering the first two turns. While Larson tried to pull ahead on the inside lane with drafting help from Logano, Bowman muscled away with the lead as he had a stronger draft on the outside lane followed by Almirola entering the backstretch. Larson then tried to pull even to Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the inside lane exiting the backstretch as he had Logano drafting him. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Larson managed to pull ahead and lead the first lap by a hair over Bowman as the field remained dead tight through two packed lanes.
Through the first five scheduled laps and with the field remaining in tight formation through two tight-packed lanes, teammates Bowman and Larson remained dead even for the lead followed by Almirola, Logano and Christopher Bell while Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie were in the top 10. Behind, Chris Buescher occupied 11th while Todd Gilliland, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith and Noah Gragson were running in the top 20.
At the Lap 10 mark, Bowman managed to break ahead with the lead followed by teammate Larson, while Almirola, Logano and Cindric were in the top five. By then, names like William Byron, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon were mired outside the top 20 while Conor Daly, Travis Pastrana, rookie Ty Gibbs and Jimmie Johnson were running towards the rear of the field.
Two laps later and just as Larson managed to break away from the pack with drafting help from Logano, Bell gained a strong run on both front-runners and made his move to the outside lane entering the frontstretch as he challenged Larson for the lead with drafting help from Bowman. He would prevail through the backstretch and clear the field with Bowman remaining right behind his No. 20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota TRD Camry.
By Lap 25, Bell was scored as the leader despite remaining in a tight side-by-side battle against Larson amid two packed lanes. Bowman, Almiorla, Logano, Cindric, Blaney, Elliott, LaJoie and Keselowski were running in the top 10 while Johnson and Kyle Busch were scored in 26th and 33rd, respectively. A few laps later, Ty Dillon fell off the pace and took his car to the garage following a mechanical issue to his Spire Motorsports entry while the race remained under green flag conditions.
At the Lap 35 mark, Almirola ignited his challenge for the lead as he gained a draft from Cindric on the inside lane to lead a lap for himself ahead of Bell. By then, Conor Daly made a pit stop under green while names like Corey LaJoie, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin emerged in the top 10. A lap later, however, Bowman navigated his way back into the lead as he had LaJoie pushing him while battling Bell.
Then during the following lap, the Ford competitors led by Almirola and Logano peeled off the track and on pit road for their first service of the event. A bevy of Chevrolet competitors led by rookie Noah Gragson and Bowman would pit during the following lap while the rest of the field that included a multitude of Toyota competitors and Chevrolet competitor Kyle Busch pitted during the following lap. During the final wave of pit stops, newcomer Riley Herbst locked up the front tires and spun his No. 15 SunnyD Ford Mustang behind Busch while trying to enter pit road, but the event remained under green flag conditions. Herbst, however, was assessed a pass-through penalty for a commitment line violation. Despite remaining on track to lead two laps for himself before pitting by himself under green, Pastrana was also penalized with a pass-through penalty for driving his No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota TRD Camry through too many pit boxes while exiting his pit stall.
By Lap 40 and with the first wave of pit stops being completed under green, Hamlin cycled his way into the lead followed by teammate Bell, Reddick, Briscoe and Almirola while Wallace, Cindric, Truex, Blaney and Kyle Busch were running in the top 10. Soon after, the field returned to competing within two tight-packed lanes as Briscoe drew himself in a side-by-side challenge against Hamlin for the lead.
On Lap 52, early trouble struck for Bubba Wallace, who moved up to the outside lane while battling with Briscoe for the lead before he got bumped by a fast-charging Truex on the backstretch as he slapped the outside wall. Despite keeping his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry straight, he dropped to the rear of the field, pitted under green and returned on the track as he would eventually lose a lap to the leaders. Amid Wallace’s issue, Truex moved into the lead followed by his Toyota teammates Hamlin, Bell, Tyler Reddick and Gibbs.
By Lap 60, Truex retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors that included teammates Hamlin and Gibbs while Almirola and Brad Keselowski were scored in the top five. By then, Jimmie Johnson was in eighth in between Ryan Preece and Kevin Harvick while Reddick and Bell were mired back in 12th and 25th, respectively.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 65, Keselowski, who commenced a late drafting charge to the front before overtaking Truex during the stage’s final lap with drafting help from a multitude of Ford competitors, claimed the first stage victory of the 2023 season. Ford competitors Preece, Buescher, Harvick and McDowell followed suit in the top five while Gibbs, Johnson, Almirola, Truex and Todd Gilliand were scored in the top 10, all of whom received the first wave of stage points. By then, names that included Hamlin, Byron, Cindric, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Chase Elliott, Logano, Reddick and Blaney were running in the top 20 as 32 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap. In addition, AJ Allmendinger received the free pass after managing to remain as the first competitor a lap down ahead of Wallace, Zane Smith and BJ McLeod.
Under the stage break, the entire field led by Keselowski pitted and Preece exited with the lead followed by Keselowski, Harvick, Almirola and McDowell. During the pit stops, Buescher had to back up to get into his pit stall while Hamlin and Logano nearly made contact against one another, with Logano running his car into the grass, while trying to exit pit road amid a tight scramble.
The second stage started on Lap 71 as Preece and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Preece and Keselowski duked for the lead until Keselowski gained a draft from Almirola through the backstretch and moved in front of Preece’s No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang to lead a lap for himself. Almirola, however, was quick to challenge Keselowski on the outside lane as he had Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang drafting him while Keselowski remained in front of Preece and Harvick on the inside lane.
Through the first 80 scheduled laps, Keselowski and Almirola continued to duke for the lead followed by Preece, Cindric and Harvick while Byron, McDowell, Buescher, Truex and Gilliland were in the top 10. Behind, Kyle Busch, Logano, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Blaney, Johnson, Larson, Elliott, Haley and Reddick were running in the top 20 while Gibbs, Bowman, Stenhouse, Ross Chastain, Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Bell, Gragson, Allmendinger and Daniel Suarez were mired in the top 30. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was scored as the final competitor on the lead lap in 33rd while Wallace was still mired a lap down in 34th in front of Zane Smith and Pastrana.
Ten laps later, Keselowski continued to lead on the inside lane followed by Preece and Harvick while McDowell and Almirola battled for fourth place in front of two tight-packed lanes.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Keselowski retained the lead ahead of the pack and a long line of competitors running on the inside lane. By then, Preece remained behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, McDowell and Erik Jones while Johnson, Larson, Reddick, Stenhouse and Truex were running in the top 10. By then, Kyle Busch was trying to launch a second drafting lane on the outside lane as he was just scored outside of the top 10 while 33 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Eight laps later, a multitude of competitors led by Kyle Busch and including a majority of Chevrolet competitors pitted under green for a second time while the rest of the field led by Keselowski remained on the track. Following the first wave of pit stops, Busch was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. Shortly after, a small wave of competitors led by Keselowski pitted for service under green. A wave of Toyota competitors including Ford competitor Harvick, followed suit during the next lap before Logano led the final wave of competitors down to pit road by the Lap 110 mark.
Once the green flag pit stops completed, Logano cycled into the lead followed by Buescher and Blaney. All three, however, were quickly caught by the field led by Reddick entering the frontstretch and chaos nearly ensued when Blaney and Buescher tried to stall the run from the pack. Once the field settled through two packed lanes, Logano retained the lead followed by teammate Blaney while Truex, Gibbs and Larson were in the top five. By then, Erik Jones, Buescher, Byron, Reddick and Harvick occupied the top 10.
Then on Lap 118, the caution flew when Harvick bumped and got Reddick’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry loose in Turn 4 as he clipped Blaney while barely missing Truex before both veered sideways and hit the outside wall. While the oncoming competitors behind scrambled to avoid the carnage, Erik Jones veered sideway below the apron along with Larson before he spun backwards and was hit by Elliott while Suarez also made contact against Elliott. While Blaney continued despite falling off of the lead lap category, top names that included Elliott, Jones and Reddick were eliminated from contention. During the caution period, some led by Buescher pitted while others led by Logano remained on the track.
With six laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Logano and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Logano rocketed away with the lead on the inside lane followed by Truex while Chastain was locked in a battle with AJ Allmendinger for third place. A lap later, Chastain drew his No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 alongside Logano as he proceeded to lead a lap for himself before Logano returned the favor during the next lap. Chastain would then manage to reassume the lead and have both lanes to his control while Bowman and Logano dueled for second.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 130, Chastain edged Bowman by 0.015 seconds to claim the second stage victory. Logano settled in third while Stenhouse, Logano, Cindric, Truex, Byron, Allmendinger, Buescher and Bell were scored in the top 10 as the field fanned out to three lanes while streaking across the start/finish line.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Chastain, except for Wallace, pitted for service and Almirola exited with the lead after only opting for fuel followed by Buescher, Byron, Larson and Cindric. During the caution period, Chastain was penalized for speeding while entering pit road along with Gragson, who was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Bell was also penalized for running over his air hose.
With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Wallace and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace jumped ahead with the lead as he had both lanes to his control through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, he moved from the bottom to the top lane to remain in front of Byron. This, however, allowed Almirola to gain the draft and move into the lead on the inside lane followed by Buescher as Larson also moved up to third.
Two laps later, the caution returned due to debris in the form of a right-front tire that came off in Turn 2 and off of Blaney’s damaged No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. During the caution period, names that included Larson, Byron, Briscoe, Logano, Gragson, Truex, Cody Ware, Allmendinger, Stenhouse, Gilliland, Zane Smith, Bowman, Logano and Kyle Busch pitted, mainly for fuel. During the pit stops, Bowman endured a slow pit service to have his car repaired after making contact with Gragson while trying to enter his pit stall.
During the following restart with 57 laps remaining, Wallace and Almirola dueled for the lead for a second time before Almirola quickly pulled away on the inside lane as he was being drafted by Buescher and Harvick while Wallace had Cindric drafting him. During the following lap, Cindric along with a majority of competitors running on the outside lane overtook Wallace as Wallace lost the draft while being stuck in the middle of three packed lanes and fell back to 16th. Meanwhile, a side-by-side action for the lead was occurring between Almirola and Buescher.
With 50 laps remaining, Buescher was leading ahead of teammate/owner Keselowski followed by Almirola, Hamlin and Harvick while LaJoie, Cindric, Haley, Preece and Johnson were in the top 10. Shortly after, Hamlin drew his challenge for the lead beneath Buescher’s No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang, but the latter remained within contention.
Under the final 40 scheduled laps, the top-33 competitors on the track were separated by less than two seconds and within two packed lanes as Buescher continued to lead with drafting help from Keselowski while Almirola, Cindric and Preece settled in the top five ahead of Harrison Burton, McDowell, Hamlin, Suarez and Larson.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Buescher retained the lead followed by a long line of competitors running on the outside lane, which included seven Fords occupying the top-seven spots that included Keselowski, Almirola, Cindric, Preece, Burton and McDowell. A lap later, Wallace pitted for fresh tires and fuel under green.
Then with 25 laps remaining, a wave of competitors led by Buescher pitted under green, mainly for fuel, as Suarez took over the lead. The Toyota competitors led by Hamlin and Truex would pit during the following lap before a group of five led by McDowell pitted during the ensuing lap. More competitors led by Suarez would then pit with 21 laps remaining as Burton emerged with the lead. Shortly after, Burton pitted along with a handful of competitors including Logano. During the pit stops, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road.
Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when a stack-up on the outside lane entering Turns 1 and 2 resulted with McDowell hitting and sending Preece sideways as Preece spun below the track and hit the right side of Johnson’s car before he shot back up to the wall and ignited a multi-car wreck that collected Truex, Briscoe, Gibbs and Harvick. At the moment of caution, Burton, who had just pitted under green, cycled into the lead followed by Logano, Byron, Kyle Busch and Larson while Austin Dillon, Suarez, Allmendinger, Keselowski and Gragson were running in the top 10.
Down to the final 13 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Burton and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Burton and Logano battled dead even for the lead. As Burton tried to pull ahead through the backstretch, Logano gained the upper hand on the inside lane as he assumed the lead followed by Byron, Allmendinger and Larson. Then through the frontstretch, Logano’s car dipped below the double yellow lines. This caused a brief stack up as Byron was left in the middle of a three-wide battle and began losing spots after losing the draft. Then through the backstretch, Allmendinger forced his way below Logano as he took the lead followed by Larson as Logano was losing spots on the outside lane while nearly making contact with Burton.
As the field fanned out and jostled for positions toward the front with 10 laps remaining, Keselowski cycled his way back into the lead followed by Buescher, Allmendinger, Larson and Busch. Busch would soon move up to third followed by teammate Austin Dillon and Byron while Allmendinger was slowly losing ground after losing the lead pack.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Keselowski was leading teammate Buescher while Busch settled in third as he had teammate Dillon and Byron drafting him while Stenhouse, Logano, Cindric, Bell and Larson in top 10.
Then with four laps remaining, Busch dropped the hammer through the backstretch as he moved to the outside lane and was drafted into the lead followed by Dillon, Byron and Stenhouse while Keselowski and Buescher were stuck on the inside lane with no additional help as they dropped to fifth and sixth. Then as Busch led the field towards the frontstretch with the start/finish line within sight, the caution flew with two laps remaining and the event was sent into overtime when Suarez got turned and spun towards the frontstretch before getting his No. 99 Tootsies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stuck on the frontstretch grass.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Busch, who started on the outside lane alongside Dillon, jumped ahead before crossing over in front of Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to get the draft from his Richard Childress Racing teammate while Logano tried to rally on the outside lane. Logano would gain the upper hand through the backstretch as he had Stenhouse, Larson and Bell pushing him while Busch had to save his No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from going off the track after getting bumped by Dillon. Then, Stenhouse moved to the inside of Logano as he took the lead followed by Larson. Not long after, however, the caution returned and the field was sent into a second overtime attempt when Dillon got bumped and turned by Byron exiting the backstretch as he bumped into Hamlin before sending himself and Byron for a spin. Both Dillon and Byron then veered back up the track and ignited another multi-car pileup in Turn 3 that involved Haley, Gilliland, Cindric, Burton, Gragson, Chastain, Zane Smith, Herbst and Johnson, whose strong run came to an end with a wrecked race car. In the midst of the carnage, Busch, who lost his teammate and drafting partner, fell back to sixth behind Logano and Allmendinger.
At the start of the second overtime attempt, where Stenhouse and Larson occupied the front row, Stenhouse retained the lead despite receiving pressure from Logano, Larson, Busch and a pack of cars through double lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Stenhouse remained as the leader before being overtaken by both Logano and Larson exiting the frontstretch. Entering Turns 1 and 2, however, Stenhouse received a push from Bell on the inside lane to mount his way back to the front and draw himself alongside Logano. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Pastrana got bumped by Almirola as he clipped Larson and sent Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 head-on into the outside wall. The contact triggered a massive wreck on the final lap that included Busch, Blaney, Cindric, Wallace, Keselowski, Hamlin and Allmendinger. The wreck on the final lap was also enough for NASCAR to conclude the event under caution and Stenhouse, who was low on fuel in overtime, emerged as the winner as he was out in front when the caution was displayed ahead of Logano and Bell.
With the victory, Stenhouse became the 42nd different competitor to win the Daytona 500 as he notched his third NASCAR Cup Series career victory and snapped a 199-race winless drought, with his last victory occurring at Daytona in July 2017. He also recorded the second Cup career victory for JTG-Daugherty Racing, which celebrated a Daytona 500 pole with Stenhouse in 2020, as co-owners Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty became the first female and African-American duo as co-owners of a car to win the 500. Stenhouse’s victory also occurred in his first race being reunited with veteran Mike Kelley, who led Stenhouse to back-to-back Xfinity Series championships in 2011 and 2012.
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I think this whole off season [period], [crew chief] Mike [Kelley] just preached how much we all believed in each other,” Stenhouse, who celebrated by climbing the frontstretch catchfence, said on FOX. “[The team] left me a note on the car that said they believe in me and to go get the job done tonight. I made a few mistakes. We were able to battle back. This Kroger/Cottonelle team worked really, really hard this off-season. Great pit stops, Hendrick engines, glad a Chevy won. Man, this is unbelievable. This is the sight of my last win back in 2017. We worked really hard. We had a couple shots last year to get a win and fell short. It was a tough season, but man, we got it done. Daytona 500.”
“I knew I was gonna take the top [lane for the second overtime],” Stenhouse added. “I was hoping [Logano] was gonna follow and he did. He was able to push us out. I went to the bottom [lane]. [Busch] and [Logano] got a huge run. [Larson] split me in the middle, but another fellow dirt racer with Bell gave me a good shot down the little short chute into [Turn] 1. Man, we were out front when the caution came out. We were out of fuel, so the fuel light was going crazy, but man, I hope you all [fans] had fun. That was a heck of a race!”
While Stenhouse celebrated the victory, Logano, the reigning series champion, settled in a disappointing second place while Bell, Buescher and Bowman finished in the top five.
“Second’s the worst, man,” Logano said. “You’re so close. Leading the white flag lap there, I was up front. Kyle gave me a good push and you’re watching in the mirror and you’re three wide across there…You think you’re racing to the checkered flag and you put yourself in the best position to try to win at the start/finish line, and just caution came out. You wish you could race to the end. Obviously, you can’t when they wreck that much. Congratulations to Ricky. There’s nothing like winning the Daytona 500. That’s why it stings so much finishing second, but still proud of the team, still proud of the effort coming off the championship last year and bringing this Shell/Pennzoil Mustang back toward the front and getting a Ford close to the front. Wish it was in Victory Lane, though.”
“If you would’ve told me pre-race I was gonna run third, I would’ve jumped up and down and smiling ear to ear,” Bell said. “I am very happy and very, very thankful that I would get this Rheem and DeWalt Camry a good solid finish, but man, just so close to a crown jewel. I feel like if [the race] would’ve stayed green, I would’ve been on offense. Who knows, who knows, but very proud and thankful to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing. That’s really cool. Very, very happy for Ricky.”
Allmendinger, who was involved in the final lap multi-car melee, rallied to come home in sixth place while Suarez, Blaney, Chastain and Riley Herbst achieved top-10 results. Notably, Pastrana finished 11th in his Cup debut, Harvick finished 12th in his 22nd and final Daytona 500 career start in front of Zane Smith, Hamlin fell back to 17th while Larson, Kyle Busch, Wallace, Almirola, Keselowski and Cindric ended up 18th through 23rd, respectively, after wrecking on the final lap. In addition, Conor Daly and Johnson ended up 29th and 31st, respectively, in the final running order.
There were 53 lead changes for 21 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 38 laps. At 212 laps (530 miles), this season marked the longest-ever running of the Daytona 500 in distance.
Following the first event on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Joey Logano leads the regular-season standings by two points over Chris Buescher, four over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., eight over Christopher Bell, 11 over Alex Bowman and 14 over Ross Chastain.
With the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season underway, the competitors and teams will be embarking on a three-race West Coast swing, beginning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which will mark the sport’s final competition at the two-mile speedway venue. The event is scheduled to occur on next Sunday, February 26, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
For the eighth time in nine seasons, Hendrick Motorsports captured the spotlight in a Daytona 500 pole qualifying session as Alex Bowman muscled his way to win the pole position for this year’s 65th annual running of the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
The qualifying format that determined the front row of this year’s 500 event was based on two qualifying sessions comprised of a single-lap session for each competitor. Following the first round, the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42 transferred to the second and final single-lap round to contend for the pole and a front-row starting spot.
In the end, Bowman, who was the antepenultimate competitor during the first session and the final competitor during the second session rolled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track to post a qualifying lap. He secured the Busch Light Pole Award after posting a blazing pole-winning time of 49.536 seconds at 181.686 mph, which was enough to knock teammate Kyle Larson off the top of the qualifying chart. It was the 11th consecutive Daytona 500 pole for Chevrolet and the 16th overall for Hendrick Motorsports.
With his accomplishment, the 29-year-old Bowman from Tucson, Arizona, notched his fourth NASCAR Cup Series career pole and his third in the 500, which placed him in a tie with Fireball Roberts, Ken Schrader and Dale Jarrett for the second-most 500 poles in the series history. He also extended a personal record by claiming a front-row starting spot in the 500 for a sixth consecutive season. Bowman’s third 500 pole occurred in his first Cup points-paying qualifying attempt with his new crew chief Blake Harris, who replaced veteran Greg Ives after Ives retired from being a crew chief at the conclusion of the 2022 season. It also occurred after Bowman inked a three-year contract extension to remain at Hendrick Motorsports earlier in the day as he now attempts to win his first 500 in what will be his seventh start this Sunday.
“That’s the trick, right? We’ve, obviously, not been able to [win the Daytona 500] for the last five years,” Bowman said on FS1. “[We’re] Just trying to make the right decisions and transfer everything over to race trim for Sunday the best we can. Just so proud of Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop, all the guys. This Ally No. 48 Camaro’s, obviously, really fast. I don’t have a lot to do with qualifying here. Just fortunate to qualify some really fast race cars. Really cool to see Hendrick Motorsports one, two, three. I’ll take it. It’s pretty cool.”
Joining Bowman on the front row will be his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-fastest qualifying time of 49.708 seconds at 181.057 mph as Hendrick competitors swept the front row for the 500 for the eighth time in 14 seasons. This season will mark both the second consecutive season and second overall where Larson will start on the front row for the Great American Race after winning his first 500 pole a year ago. Like Bowman, Larson will vie for his first 500 victory with this season marking his 10th career start in the Great American Race.
“[Owner Rick Hendrick]’s, obviously, really excited,” Larson said. “I think this is a big deal for him and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop at Hendrick. Really cool for the No. 48 team. That’s awesome. That’s pretty incredible, so hats off to that team. Congrats to Alex. Proud of everybody on the No. 5 team as well. It’s really awesome to be on the front row and know if you just finish the Duels tomorrow and don’t have to go to a backup car, you get to start on the front row on Sunday. Really looking forward to the Duels, getting some more laps, getting comfortable and then, get to race it on Sunday.”
William Byron, the 2019 Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 49.799 seconds at 180.727 mph as he will be one of the remaining 40 competitors to vie for their official starting spots for the 500 through a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duel that will take place on Thursday, February 16. Veterans Aric Almirola and Joey Logano completed the top five in qualifying time and speed while Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Kyle Busch, all of whom advanced to the second and final qualifying round, rounded out the top 10 on the qualifying chart. Busch originally posted the sixth-fastest qualifying lap, but his time was stripped by NASCAR after he went below the yellow line boundary on the backstretch to complete his qualifying lap.
Bubba Wallace, who was one of 32 competitors who did not transfer to the second round, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 49.997 seconds at 180.011 mph followed by Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, rookie Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick.
Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana were left celebrating on pit road with their respective teams and with each other after both achieved guaranteed spots for this year’s Daytona 500 by being the fastest two qualifiers competing for non-chartered teams.
Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and a two-time Daytona 500 champion with 83 career wins, emerged as the fastest competitor competing for a non-chartered team after posting the 23rd-fastest qualifying time of 50.202 seconds in 179.276 mph, which was enough to lock himself and his No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team into the field. The accomplishment comes as Johnson enters the 2023 season as a part-time owner and competitor of Legacy Motor Club, rebranded from Petty GMS Motorsports, following a two-year absence from NASCAR competition. Sunday’s Daytona 500 will mark his 20th start in the Great American Race and the first of select events that have yet to be determined aside from the inaugural Cup event at the Chicago Street Course for Johnson.
“It feels great,” Johnson said. “Just a massive thank you to everyone at Legacy Motor Club. It’s been a lot of work to get three cars here, especially with how late this opportunity came along for me. That was stressful. It was hard to tell inside the car if it was a good lap or not. The RPM range is much different than the last time I was in a car and it just sounded flat and felt slow, but we’re sitting in a great spot as the fastest unchartered car. Very thankful for that.”
Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Pastrana, a former NASCAR and stunt competitor with championship-winning and X Games gold medals across supercross, motorcross and rally competition, posted the 25th-fastest qualifying time of 50.208 seconds in 179.254 mph, which was enough to fulfill a childhood dream by securing his No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota TRD Camry team owned by 23XI Racing into Sunday’s main event. With his accomplishment, he will make his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series during Sunday’s main event as he has previously made 42 career starts in the Xfinity Series and five in the Craftsman Truck Series. Pastrana’s previous NASCAR national touring series career start to date occurred during the Truck Series Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September 2020, where he finished 21st.
“I tell you what, qualifying for the 500, this is literally a dream come true,” Pastrana exclaimed. “This is bigger than big. Thank you so much to Black Rifle [Coffee], Dixon for giving me the opportunity to be here and for Denny [Hamlin], Michael [Jordan], everyone at the 23XI team for giving me a great car. I was sweating having to go to tomorrow. Like Kurt Busch said, now we go to tomorrow, now we learn. Now, the work starts.”
The remaining four open competitors that include Zane Smith, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Conor Daly will compete for the final two open spots for this weekend’s Daytona 500 through Thursday’s Duels. Smith, who was the first competitor to roll off of pit road to post his qualifying lap, rallied from stalling his car due to a mechanical issue with his No. 13 Quick Tie Inc. Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that forced the Georgian to return to pit road before he returned two competitors later to post his qualifying lap. Daly was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying lap due to an oil line issue to his No. 50 BitNile Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he will start his Duel at the rear of the field.
Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule are a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 19 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. First, on Thursday, the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel is slated to commence at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Duel event will follow suit at approximately 8:45 p.m. ET on FS1.
NASCAR’S 75th season officially kicks off this week at Daytona International Speedway. Country music recording artist Dierks Bentley will provide the entertainment Sunday afternoon prior to the running of the historic 65th Daytona 500.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin leads all active drivers with three wins in this prestigious event (2016, 2019 and 2020). Jimmie Johnson has visited victory lane twice (2006, 2013) as he returns to NASCAR this year on a part-time schedule with Legacy Motor Club. They are joined by drivers Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano, and Kevin Harvick, who have one Daytona 500 victory to their credit.
Three active drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series have previous wins heading into the, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300, race. Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley won the event in 2020 and 2021 and Austin Hill went to victory lane in his rookie season last year with Richard Childress Racing. Jeremy Clements is the defending race winner and will make his 26th career start at Daytona.
In the last six Craftsman Truck Series races at Daytona, there have been six different winners – Kaz Grala, Johnny Sauter, Austin Hill, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes and Zane Smith. Four of those drivers are entered in this weekend’s NextEra Energy 250 including Johnny Sauter, Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes and Zane Smith, the defending race winner.
Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series driver Chase Elliott will also participate in the Truck Series race along with Spire Motorsport’s Corey Lajoie. Travis Pastrana, driving for 23XI and attempting to qualify for the Daytona 500, will join them on the track in the No. 41 Niece Motorsports entry. Pastrana has five previous starts in the series.
Wednesday, Feb. 15
8:15 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
Thursday, Feb. 16
4 p.m.: Truck Series random drawing for Qualifying 4:05 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Practice – No TV 5:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 7 p.m.: Cup Series Duel 1 (60 laps/150 miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 8:45 p.m. (approx.) Cup Series Duel 2 (60 laps/150 miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
Friday, Feb. 17
1:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Qualifying (Impound, Groups) 3 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound-Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 4:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 5:30 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 7:30 p.m.: Truck Series Race – (Stages 20/40/100 Laps = 250 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM The Purse: $1,025,847
Saturday, Feb. 18
10:30 a.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – FS1/FS2/MRN/SiriusXM 11:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound-Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 1:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Race – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Race (Stages 30/60/120 Laps = 300 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM The Purse: $3,327,595
Sunday, Feb. 19
2:15 p.m.: Cup Series Driver Intros 2:30 p.m.: Cup Series 65th Daytona 500 (Stages 65/130/200 Laps = 500 Miles) FOX/MRN/SiriusXM The Purse: $26,934,357
The Money Racing Team will attempt to compete in this year’s 65th running of the Daytona 500 by fielding the No. 50 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 throughout this year’s Daytona Speedweeks with Conor Daly set to pilot the entry.
The news comes as the organization owned by former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is coming off its first part-time campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series by fielding the No. 50 entry in four events. Kaz Grala debuted the team’s presence in the Cup circuit by qualifying for the 64th running of the Daytona 500, where he went on to finish 26th. Grala then finished 25th at Circuit of the Americas and 23rd in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, respectively before Daly made his debut in NASCAR’s premier series with the organization in the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course last October, where he finished 34th.
For this upcoming season, the 31-year-old Daly from Noblesville, Indiana, will attempt to make his debut in the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway with the Money Racing Team, which will compete as a non-chartered organization, as BitNile will sponsor the team’s entry. The season opener at Daytona is the first of select planned events for Daly and the team to compete in for the 2023 campaign. Daly is also set to return as a full-time competitor in the NTT IndyCar Series for Ed Carpenter Racing, where he has accumulated a single pole, a single podium, 136 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5 in 97 career starts.
Daly and the Money Racing Team’s bid to compete in this year’s Daytona 500 commences next Wednesday, February 15, during Busch Light Pole Qualifying followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will take place next Thursday, February 16, as they attempt to secure a starting spot for the main event.
The 65th running of the Daytona 500 is scheduled to occur on February 19 and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Austin Cindric: Cindric held off Bubba Wallace and teammate Ryan Blaney to win the Daytona 500 in his first Daytona start.
“I’m only 23 years old,” Cindric said. “To achieve the greatest accomplishment of one’s life at that age is simply amazing. If that’s still the case 32 years from now, then I’ll officially change my name to ‘Derrick Cope.’”
“Historically, the Daytona 500 is known as the ‘Great American Race.’ Currently, it’s known as the ‘Greatest Collection of ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Merchandise In The World.’”
2. Bubba Wallace: Wallace finished second at Daytona, matching his career-best 500 finish.
“‘Second’ is a word that’s rarely used by Michael Jordan,” Wallace said, ‘unless it’s used in the following context: ‘Give me one second, while I place another bet.’
“My crew chief is Bootie Barber. So, any communication between him and I is technically a ‘Bootie call.’ No matter what happens this season, I’ll still never have more ‘bootie calls’ than Tim Richmond.
3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney came home fourth at Daytona as Penske Racing teammate Austin Cindric took the win.
“Congratulations to Austin,” Blaney said. “And congratulations to Roger Penske. Roger’s 85th birthday was Sunday. Roger’s a legend in auto racing across many series and is the greatest car owner in auto racing. No other car owner can hold a candle to Roger, much less 85.”
4. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished fifth at Daytona.
“NASCAR started the season with the Busch Clash in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum,” Almirola said. “That track was tiny. I’ve seen bigger circles in a pack of Lifesavers or under the eyes of anyone who’s awoken in the Daytona infield after a day and/or night of drinking with Clint Bowyer.”
5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski led a race-high 67 laps and finished ninth at Daytona in his first points race as driver/owner for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.
“I feel great being a part of re-igniting Roush Fenway,” Keselowski said. “It may sound difficult, but it’s really not, because re-igniting something that’s already on fire is easy, and Roush Fenway was a dumpster fire.”
6. Michael McDowell: McDowell started sixth and finished seventh at Daytona in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Mustang.
“Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch waved the green flag to start the race,” McDowell said. “As you would expect in a race green-flagged by him, there was a lot of ‘spin.’”
7. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe finished fourth in the Daytona 500 in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang.
“I hope I made Tony Stewart proud,” Briscoe said. “Tony was in the booth with Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer calling the race for Fox. I think Tony’s a natural in front of the camera. They say ‘the camera adds ten pounds.’ Tony absolutely agrees with that. That way, he doesn’t have to blame it on his diet.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth at Daytona and remained winless in Daytona 500’s.
“I’m now 0-17 in Daytona 500 races,” Busch said. “Personally, I’m looking forward to the ‘Next Generation,’ because I’ve already gone through one without winning the 500.”
9. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 10th at Daytona and was the only Chevrolet driver in the top 10.
“I’m just happy the No. 9 NAPA Chevy finished the race in one piece,” Elliott said. “Obviously, I was able to steer clear of Brad Keselowski. How many cars did he wreck? Now that Brad is an owner and a driver, it’s clear he’s the ‘total’ package.”
10. David Ragan: Ragan finished eighth at Daytona after avoiding several accidents until being caught up in a final-lap crash after crossing the finish line.
“I,” Ragan said, “like 38 other drivers, was just happy to survive…a race that Brad Keselowski was in.
“Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a new NASCAR owner. Kaz Grala drives the No. 50 car for The Money Team Racing. I don’t know much about Kaz Grala, but I can tell you this – Any car associated with Mayweather will never knock anyone out, and can only win on points. And should also have its financials reviewed by a competent accountant.”
