Briscoe earns Daytona 500 pole as Truex, Johnson lock into field

An ‘unbelievable’ way to start off the year and season, according to Chase Briscoe, who rocketed to the top of the Daytona 500 qualifying charts with a 49.249s lap in the final round. The prestigious pole is huge for Briscoe, but even bigger for manufacturer and team as Toyota has never before earned pole position in the Daytona 500 and Joe Gibbs Racing hasn’t taken the top spot in 500 qualifying since 1998 with Bobby Labonte.

Briscoe’s stunning pole run saw him best Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, which inevitably ended Ford’s run of nine consecutive poles at drafting tracks. The Blue Oval did make a statement, though, taking every spot inside the top-five — except first position.

“[It’s] a great way to start our season,” said Briscoe, who has two previous Cup Series poles. “Unbelievable way to start off the year. Unbelievable way to start off with Toyota. To be able to be the guy to deliver them the first anything when they’ve already accomplished so much is pretty cool … Can’t thank Coach Gibbs enough, the entire Joe Gibbs Racing organization. The whole off-season everybody kept telling me the focus was trying to qualify better at superspeedways. That’s something I really struggled at last year. For our 19 group to come here and sit on the pole at the biggest race of the year is pretty special.”

Ryan Preece was third on the time sheets, Joey Logano fourth, Josh Berry fifth, Denny Hamlin sixth, Austin Dillon seventh, Christopher Bell eighth, Ty Dillon ninth, and Kyle Larson tenth.

Two champs lock in

And Toyota’s good night went far beyond Briscoe’s pole lap. Of the nine open drivers, only two had the opportunity to lock themselves into the race in Wednesday night and both were members of the Toyota camp. It was the two former NASCAR Cup champions — Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson — who edged out the rest of the massive open field. Of note, they were also the only Toyota drivers not yet locked into the race. As the manufacturer trails both Chevrolet and Ford in total car count, they need all the allies they can get for Sunday.

“Definitely a big relief,” said Truex, who will make his 21st appearance in the 500 on Sunday. “You never know what can happen in the Duels – they can get crazy, something on pit road can get you in trouble. Great job to all of the guys – they worked their butts off on this car. They were sweating all afternoon, and luckily, we were able to put a good lap in.”

For Johnson, he was just happy that he won’t have to go through the stress of last year’s attempt to fight his way into the 500 with a last-lap pass in his qualifying race.  “What I went through last year was so frightening and I’m glad I don’t have to go through it again. I certainly respect this process and don’t envy the guys that have to race their way in. It’s so tough. I’m very happy with my Toyota. I’m very happy with everybody at Legacy Motor Club. We’ve got three cars here that are all quite fast. It’s a big improvement from last year. We’ve worked hard in the off-season. We’re in the big show.”

Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club Toyota

Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Third-fastest of the open entry drivers was Justin Allgaier, in an entry co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. which puts him in a solid position to transfer on time should either Truex or Johnson be the best open driver in their respective Duel race. But if that doesn’t happen, Allgaier will have the same goal as the rest of the open field — finish higher than the rest and race their way into the 500. 

As it stands, the following open drivers will compete in the Duel 1 race: Truex, Allgaier, Helio Castroneves, and J.J. Yeley. Castroneves can breathe a bit easier as he can fall back on the Open Exemption Provisional for a guaranteed starting spot if he fails to race his way in. In Duel 2, the open drivers will be as follows: Johnson, Corey LaJoie, Anthony Alfredo, and B.J. McLeod.

The twin 150-mile qualifying races begin at 7 p.m. EST Thursday night where the full field of drivers will finally be set.