The starting lineup is officially set for one of the biggest races of the NASCAR Cup Series season.
Ross Chastain won the pole Friday at Daytona International Speedway, putting the Trackhouse Racing driver at the front of the field for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400.
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Chastain advanced to the final round of qualifying and delivered a 48.808-second lap at 184.396 mph to secure the top starting spot. It is his first pole of the 2026 season and the third of his Cup Series career.
Chris Buescher will join Chastain on the front row after qualifying second at 184.204 mph.
But with NASCAR’s regular-season finale carrying major postseason implications, some of the most important qualifying results came immediately behind them.
Ryan Preece Gives Himself a Strong Starting Point at Daytona
Austin Hill qualified third, while Ryan Preece earned the fourth starting position in the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford.
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That could prove particularly important for Preece.
Preece enters Saturday night on the outside of the Chase field and chasing the final available spots. He will start ahead of both Shane van Gisbergen, who qualified sixth, and Austin Cindric, who starts eighth.
Riley Herbst completed the top five, followed by van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch, Cindric, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.
Several other contenders will have considerably more traffic to navigate.
Ryan Blaney qualified 19th, Brad Keselowski starts 21st and Chase Elliott will roll off 22nd. Bubba Wallace qualified 26th, Carson Hocevar 28th and Denny Hamlin 30th.
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Christopher Bell will have one of the longest climbs of the night after qualifying 35th.
Gray Gaulding was the lone driver who failed to qualify for the race.
Full NASCAR Cup Starting Lineup for Daytona
Here is the starting lineup for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400:
The field will take the green flag Saturday night with far more at stake than a Daytona trophy.
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is the final race before NASCAR’s return to the Chase postseason format, giving drivers one last opportunity to secure their place before the championship fight begins.
And at Daytona, where track position can disappear in a matter of laps and one incident can reshape the entire field, qualifying is only the first piece of what promises to be an unpredictable regular-season finale.
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