TC Daily Pit Stop: Chase Briscoe Lands Daytona 500 Pole; Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson Lock Into Field
TC Daily Pit Stop: Thursday, February 13th, 2025
Wow, all it took for Toyota to score its first pole position at Daytona and for Joe Gibbs Racing to score the team’s second-ever Daytona 500 pole was adding Chase Briscoe to the roster. The front row for the Daytona 500 was set on Wednesday, and two “Open” drivers secured a start in The Great American Race.
Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric Lock Up DAYTONA 500 Front Row
Chase Briscoe will lead the field to the green flag in NASCAR’s most prestigious race — the Daytona 500 — which also happens to be his first-ever points-paying race with his new team Joe Gibbs Racing. Briscoe, who departed the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of last season, recorded a fast lap time of 49.249 seconds (182.745 mph) in the final round of Wednesday’s qualifying session, which was enough to secure him the pole.
The pole marks the first-ever pole for Toyota at Daytona International Speedway, and its just the second-ever Daytona 500 pole for the Joe Gibbs Racing team, which previously secured the Daytona 500 pole in 1998 with Bobby Labonte.
Austin Cindric, who was just 0.076 seconds off of the pace set by Briscoe, will start from the outside of the front row in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
The remainder of the starting lineup for the 67th annual Daytona 500 will be set in Thursday night’s Duel Qualifier Races.
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Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex, Jr. Secure Spot in DAYTONA 500 Field
Heading into this week, there was a lot of anxiety for two NASCAR Cup Series champions. That anxiety subsided on Wednesday night as both Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson were able to officially lock into the 2025 Daytona 500 field in Wednesday night’s qualifying session.
Truex, the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion, driving the No. 56 Toyota for TRICON Garage and Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, driving the No. 84 Toyota for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, were the two-fastest “Open” entries in the qualifying session, which secured their place in the 67th-annual Daytona 500 by way of qualifying speed.
It was a relief, and both drivers can now focus on the next step, which is preparing their cars for Sunday’s event.
“It’s huge,” Truex said in a post-qualifying press conference. “I think it’s speedway racing, so a lot can happen. You can have a great car, a great plan, execute a great race, and something can take you out of it. We can go concentrate on working on our car for Sunday now, be smart about it tomorrow night if we need to be.”
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Thursday’s TV Schedule
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice: 5:05 PM ET on FS1 (Streaming on FOX Sports App)
NASCAR Cup Series Duel 1 at Daytona: 7:00 PM ET on FS1 (Streaming on FOX Sports App)
NASCAR Cup Series Duel 2 at Daytona: 8:45 PM ET on FS1 (Streaming on FOX Sports App)
Full Daytona 500 Race Weekend TV Schedule
Daytona 500 Weekend Resources
2025 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks