Thanks to last night’s pole qualifying, we know who will start on the front row for the 68th annual Daytona 500. Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will lead the field for Sunday’s 500-mile race from Daytona International Speedway.
Alongside Busch’s Richard Childress Motorsports Chevrolet will be Chase Briscoe in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Briscoe missed out by less than two-hundredths of a second to Busch for pole position.
How the rest of the grid shakes out will be decided tonight with the Duels at Daytona. Duel 1, led by Busch, will be a 60-lap race to decide the starting order for the inside lane on Sunday’s race. It’ll feature the odd-numbered finishers from pole qualifying.
Later on, Briscoe will lead Duel 2 – comprised of the even-numbered finishers from pole qualifying – in another 60-lap race to decide the starting order for the outside lane of Sunday’s race.
On a track like Daytona, anything can happen. Follow along with USA TODAY Sports for the latest news and updates from the Duels at Daytona:
How to watch the Duels at Daytona: Time, TV channel, live stream
- Date: Thursday, Feb. 12
- Duel 1 Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Duel 2 Time: 8:45 p.m. ET (approximate)
- TV: FS1 (both duel races)
- Streaming: Fubo, FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Watch the 2026 Daytona Duels with Fubo
What are the Duels at Daytona? What to know about unique qualifying
For the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500 uses a unique qualifying format. Things start off with the usual time-based format last night for pole qualifying. From there, everything changes.
The Duels at Daytona use two 60-lap races to set the grid. Duel 1, led by the pole winner from pole qualifying, features the odd-numbered finishers from qualifying. The finishing order from Duel 1 will determine the inside lane order for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Duel 2, led by the second-fastest driver in pole qualifying, includes the even-numbered finishers from the qualifying session. This race’s finishing order determines the outside lane order for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
What time do the Duels at Daytona start?
Following an electric night at Daytona 500 qualifying, the Duels at Daytona will get started on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. The Duel 2 race will kick off roughly at 8:45 p.m. ET.
Daytona 500 final qualifying round results
Wednesday night’s Daytona 500 final qualifying round results:
- Kyle Busch (49.006)
- Chase Briscoe (49.023)
- Ryan Preece (49.061)
- Denny Hamlin (49.100)
- Corey Heim (49.148)
- Alex Bowman (49.152)
- Kyle Larson (49.158)
- Chris Buescher (49.184)
- Chase Elliott (49.220)
- Joey Logano (49.275)
Daytona 500 odds
- Ryan Blaney (+1200)
- Joey Logano (+1200)
- William Byron (+1400)
- Denny Hamlin (+1400)
- Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch at +1600
Justin Allgaier qualifies for Daytona 500 as open driver
Justin Allgaier locked in a spot for the 2026 Daytona 500 after finishing the first round of qualifying with a time of 49.201. He also bumped Corey LaJoie out of the top 10.
Allgaier was also bumped out of the top 10 moments later after Joey Logano (49.138) jumped into the top 10. Regardless of his placement at the end of the round, Allgaier secured a spot in the Daytona 500 as one of the two fastest non-chartered drivers along with Corey Heim.