Coble: Pole position inches Kyle Busch closer to possible first Daytona 500 win

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Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images/NASCAR

Kyle Busch has accomplished just about everything in NASCAR - except winning the Daytona 500. He will try to change that on Sunday after winning the pole position in the No. 8 Richard Childress Chevrolet on Wednesday night.


DAYTONA BEACH – Of all the accomplishments Kyle Busch has achieved, and what he’s done behind the wheel is unparalleled in NASCAR, there remains one glaring hole in his racing resume – the Daytona 500.

The fiery driver from Las Vegas took a baby step toward erasing that late Wednesday by winning his first pole position for the Great American Race with a fast lap of 183.651 mph in a Richard Childress-prepared Chevrolet.

All that’s left is 500 miles at the Daytona International Speedway on Sunday (2:30 p.m., FOX) to fulfill the only missing link in his storied career.

“It’s a box we got to check. Here we are,” the younger brother of newly installed Hall of Fame driver Kurt Busch said. “This is an opportunity to be able to do that. I’ve come down here a lot of years. I think I finished in about every position possible. It would be nice to close out 2026 with a victory here in the Daytona 500.

“We just got to get the job done so we stop talking about it. No better time than right now here in 2026.”

Sunday’s race will be Busch’s 21st start in the 500. No driver has ever won his first Daytona 500 after his 20th start. Dale Earnhardt finally won his first, and only, 500 in 1998, and he did it driving for Childress.

“Kyle, we got to get this 500,” Childress said.

Busch won the Cup Series Championships in 2015 and 2019. He’s also ninth in Cup Series history with 63 career wins.

He’s also won the most Truck Series (67) and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (102) races in NASCAR history.

But in 20 Daytona 500 starts, he only has five Top 10 finishes. He came close in 2019, finishing second. He also crashed 11 times and lost two engines.

The starting lineup for the season-opening race is complicated. Busch and Chase Briscoe (183.587 mph) are locked on the front row by posting the two fastest speeds in time trials.

The rest of the grid will be set by the finishing orders of two 150-mile qualifying races Thursday night. The top finishing charter teams in the first race will make up the left side (odd-numbered positions) of the grid, while the top finishers of the second race will make up the right side of the grid.

Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier were locked in by posting the two-fastest speeds by non-charter teams. Heim is driving a part-time schedule for a team owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, while Allgaier is driving a single race for car owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller, with sponsorship from Chris Stapleton.

In the first Duel, the top-finishing non-charter car driven by Corey LaJoie, Chandler Smith or Casey Mears will win a spot in the main event, while the best between Anthony Alfredo, BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley will also make the lineup.

For Childress and Busch, the pole position marks a dramatic turnaround from seasons past. A year ago, Busch started 21st in the 500 and finished 34th after crashing.

During the offseason, Childress shook up his organization by hiring Jim Pohlman as the crew chief. Pohlman led Allgaier to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Championship in 2024, and he quickly got the team headed in a new direction.

“This is just a first step of it,” Busch said. “This is the beginning of the year, first qualifying attempt of the season. There’s a whole heck of a lot more we have to do throughout the season to be good, to be real, to be contenders. But it sure feels good in the moment right now.

“A lot of hard work behind the scenes with everybody at RCR, everybody at ECR (engine department). It feels good to give this guy another pole down here. Love nothing more than to make history and put ourselves in Victory Lane Sunday night).”

The other RCR car, driven by Austin Dillon, qualified 12th at 182.983 mph.

Pohlman said the pole position made a profound statement about the progress at the Childress shop.

“I mean, to come out swinging and get a Daytona 500 pole as a first race as a crew chief is pretty humbling for me,” he said. “There’s a lot of hype around it. Feels really good obviously.”

However, Busch put it all in perspective by stating the obvious:

“The real stuff happens on Sunday.”

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images/NASCAR

Kyle Busch won his first Daytona 500 pole on Wednesday night with a lap of 183.651 mph at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. He will try to be the first driver to win his first Daytona 500 after his 20th start on Sunday.





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