NASCAR: Larsons wins pole for Daytona 500

America’s best driver, defending NASCAR Cup Champion Kyle Larson, has picked up where he left off last year by winning the Busch Light pole for the 64th Daytona 500 with a speed of 181.159mph, becoming the first defending series champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2008 to earn the pole for the Daytona 500 and spoiling Bowman’s bid for a third Daytona pole position.

Still, Bowman’s five straight appearances on the front row is an all-time record.

Hendrick Motorsports cars took the top-3 positions with Alex Bowman 2nd in the #48 Ally Chevy and William Byron 3rd in the #24 Chevy at 181.046 mph and 180.850 mph.

Aric Almirola was the fastest non-chevy in 4th with a speed of 180.527 mph in his #10 Ford

Chase Elliott in the 4th Hendrick Chevy rounded out the top-5 with a speed of 180.314 mph.

Daytona 500 pole sitter Kyle Larson talks with Jamie Little. pic.twitter.com/AwOmJhH1fK

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 17, 2022

Noah Gragson and Jacques Villeneueve topped the board among the six Open entries (teams without a charter), securing their starting spots in Sunday’s race. Gragson, a full-time contender in the Xfinity Series, attempted and failed to qualify a season ago. The 2022 Daytona 500 will be his Cup Series debut.

By qualifying 36th, Jacques Villeneuve is the only Formula One champion to ever qualify for the Daytona 500. When Mario Andretti raced in the 500, he had not yet won the F1 world championship.

Andretti won the race first time out in 1967, let’s see how Villeneuve does.

Same Speed as in 1967

Curtis Turner won the pole for the 1967 Daytona 500 with a speed of 180.83 mph. After one round, William Byron has the fastest speed at 180.85 mph. Them boys were flying in the 60s pic.twitter.com/jjoBPHKRqU

— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) February 17, 2022

1967 Daytona 500 Winner

Pole Winner Quotes

KYLE LARSON HAS NEVER STARTED ON THE FRONT ROW OF THE DAYTONA 500. TONIGHT, A POLE. WHAT DOES THIS ONE MEAN TO YOU KYLE KNOWING EVERYTHING WITH THIS NEXT GEN CAR, TO BE THE FIRST TO DO IT?

“Yeah, it’s really neat. It makes me just, I mean anytime you are really proud of your team to get a pole here cause this is the littlest it has to do with us drivers, qualifying at superspeedways. Just a huge thank you to the engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody who’s had a part in touching these vehicles, whether it be on the computer, engineering, or just hands on. It’s really neat, just awesome the speed in our HendrickCars.com Chevy. Hopefully this is the beginning of a really good weekend.”

RICK HENDRICK, BELIEVED IN YOU. BROUGHT YOU OVER HERE A YEAR AGO. HE JUST CALLED YOU, WHAT DID HE SAY?

“He said he loves seeing that HendrickCars.com Chevy on the pole. That paint scheme means a lot to him and Linda and means a lot to the whole Hendrick Motorsports family, so to have it on the pole at the Daytona 500 is really special. I think it would be even more special if we could win the Duels tomorrow and go on Sunday and win the 500.”

Qualifying Results