The 2023 regular season finale is upon the Cup Series, and two NASCAR Ford teams will lead the field to green on Saturday, August 26th, 2023, giving The Blue Oval the opportunity it needs to start the Playoffs with a bang.
Chase Briscoe threw the No. 14 Ford Mustang around the famous 2.5-mile superspeedway in 49.499 seconds at 181.822 mph, good enough capture the pole position without contest. Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Mustang, meanwhile, made a best lap of 49.534 seconds at 181.693 mph, taking second place during Friday’s qualifying session. In fact, both Briscoe and Almirola drive for Stewart-Haas Racing, meaning they will be in a good position to support each other once the green flag drops.
“It’s exciting,” Briscoe said. “To be able to win the pole at Daytona is special no matter what car you’re driving. To be able to say I’m leading the field to green in a Cup race at Daytona is a pretty cool thing to be able to say. It’s a testament, honestly, to everybody at Stewart-Haas. It’s no secret, it’s been a rough season for us, and to have all four cars in the top 10 and to lock out the front row is super important for us and a turning point, and hopefully, one of us can win tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, several NASCAR Ford drivers are in a must-win situation if they want to be part of the 16-driver championship-eligible field. Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Mustang, has had a rough go this season, but he’s already conquered Daytona, surviving to win the 2022 Daytona 500. He’ll start 16th tomorrow. Almirola is also in desperate need of a win, or he runs the risk of being disqualified from the Playoffs.
The green flag is scheduled to drop at Daytona on August 26th, 2023 at 7 p.m. ET.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Magical Vacation Planner Ford | 49.499 | 181.822 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 49.534 | 181.693 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 49.613 | 181.404 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota | 49.639 | 181.309 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 49.642 | 181.298 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 36 | Riley Herbst(i) | Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford | 49.648 | 181.276 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 49.654 | 181.254 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 49.709 | 181.054 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 41 | Ryan Preece | RaceChoice.com Ford | 49.741 | 180.937 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | GEARWRENCH Ford | 49.772 | 180.825 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fifth Third Bank Ford | 49.852 | 180.534 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 49.876 | 180.448 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pros Shops/Ducks Unlimited Toyota | 49.892 | 180.39 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 14 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 49.922 | 180.281 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Yahoo! Toyota | 49.928 | 180.26 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 16 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford | 49.943 | 180.205 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 49.951 | 180.177 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 49.953 | 180.169 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Cares Toyota | 49.962 | 180.137 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 20 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | The Beast Unleashed Toyota | 49.987 | 180.047 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet | 50.053 | 179.809 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway.com Chevrolet | 50.055 | 179.802 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 9 | Chase Elliott | LLumar Chevrolet | 50.079 | 179.716 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 50.102 | 179.634 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 50.108 | 179.612 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 62 | Austin Hill(i) | United Rentals/Beard Oil Chevrolet | 50.206 | 179.261 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 50.231 | 179.172 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 31 | Justin Haley | Celsius Chevrolet | 50.253 | 179.094 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 42 | Josh Berry(i) | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 50.272 | 179.026 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 50.32 | 178.855 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Arena Chevrolet | 50.355 | 178.731 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Boost by Kroger/Entenmann's Chevrolet | 50.382 | 178.635 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 51 | JJ Yeley(i) | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 50.411 | 178.532 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 15 | Brennan Poole(i) | Finance Pro Plus Ford | 50.415 | 178.518 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Boot Barn Ford | 50.421 | 178.497 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 13 | Chandler Smith(i) | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 50.432 | 178.458 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | NEGU Chevrolet | 50.474 | 178.31 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 38 | 78 | BJ McLeod | B'laster Chevrolet | 50.597 | 177.876 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 39 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Fr8Auctions Ford | 50.712 | 177.473 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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