Briscoe gives Toyota its first Daytona 500 -Pole as Johnson and Truex also lock into the NASCAR opener

Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP) – Chase Briscoe led a banner night for Toyota in the qualifying to Daytona 500 By winning the bar for NASCARS “Great American Race.”

It’s the first Daytona 500 -Pol for Briscoe that moved to Joe Gibbs Racing this season when Stewart-Haas Racing closed At the end of 2024. His move to No. 19 gave Toyota his first pole in NASCAR’s largest season race.

“A great way to start our season. Incredible way to start the year. Incredible way to start with Toyota, ”said Briscoe. “Being able to be the guy to deliver them the first something when they have already achieved so much is pretty cool. To think that I will start on the front row or on the rod in the ‘big American race’ with ultimately the big American brand of (sponsor) Bass Pro Shops is incredible. Can’t thank Coach Gibbs enough, the whole Joe Gibbs Racing Organization. ”

Briscoe’s lap at 182,745 km / h held a number of Ford Challengers. Former Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindrric qualified as the second in a Ford for Team Penske who started from the bar last year with Joey Logano, which closed the year as the Nascar Cup Series Champion.

Ford -Drivers claimed four of the five best seats in time attempts, But only Briscoe and Cindric, as the front row starters were locked on Wednesday night.

“A lot of fast Fords,” Cindrric said. “Pretty good to start on the front row with one of my good friends. All in all, a good box marked at the start of this week. I think every part of this weekend is important to create an opportunity to win this race on Sunday. “

The only other drivers locked in time trials were Toyota drivers Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr., who were not guaranteed entry, but posted speeds fast enough to demand two of the four “open” places in the race.

The rest of the start order is set on Thursday night in a few qualifying races.

There are nine drivers entered for four open spots, and Truex and Johnson claimed two of them in time trials. Johnson is a seven-time Nascar champion, two-time Daytona 500 winner and member of the Hall of Fame. TRUEX is the cup champion in 2017 and in his first year of non-racing nascar full time.

“Both Jimmie and I were the recipients of their (Toyota’s) hard work on their engines,” Truex said.

Both would have been eligible to request “world -class driver” for the time being guaranteeing entry as a 41 -car to a driver who does not compete full time in NASCAR and brings marketability and visibility to the season’s biggest race.

The Currently going to four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves If he fails to run in Thursday night. If he takes the preliminary, Trackhouse Racing will not receive any points or purse and the field will be 41 cars – the largest field since 43 cars was the standard in 2015.

Johnson said his Legacy Motor Club was not aware of the preliminary until it was announced earlier this year – although a new rule included in the charter agreement team signed in September. The rule required a team to request the preliminary 90 days before the event, and the rule was only publicly announced after the deadline for Daytona 500 was adopted.

“We didn’t know about it until the rule came out. It was obviously buried in the charter agreement coming out, ”Johnson said earlier Wednesday. “But when the rule came out, I forget the morning in the morning, three minutes later, we were on the phone with Nascar and recognized that it was not within the 90 day window and we were not eligible.

“We have had a lot of conversations with everyone at Nascar, and I have a better understanding of the purpose of the rule, and I will foresee some changes after (Daytona) to better define and clarify it. Once we were read, our reaction was not big, but that’s what it is and hopefully we have a quick enough car to get in. “

He did it right at the Truex speed, but it was enough to make sure the two former masters run Sunday.

The drivers who are going to drive on Thursday and seek the two remaining spots are Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Corey Lajoie, BJ MCLEOD, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley. If Castroneves runs its way in, there will only be an open place available.

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