Briscoe Leads SHR Front Row Lockout With Daytona Pole

Chase Briscoe, seen here from an earlier race weekend, scored the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images

Saturday night could be the perfect time for Chase Briscoe to score his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. A victory at Daytona International Speedway would help turn around what has been a rough year for the Stewart Haas Racing driver.

Briscoe got the weekend off to a good start on Friday, as he put his No. 14 Ford Mustang on the pole for Saturday night’s race at the World’s Center of Racing.

Briscoe turned a lap at 181.822 mph around the 2.5-mile superspeedway to claim his first pole of the season and the second of his series career.

Despite the pole, Briscoe said he was worried about his qualifying run.

“When I left pit road I did an absolutely terrible job,” said Briscoe. “I spun the tires and I shifted way too early to second and then I had a double lift on the gas at third and fourth and I was like, ‘Man, I completely threw this away,’ so I knew it was gonna be extremely close getting back to the line and just barely was able to be there.

“It’s cool for Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s no secret that it’s been a struggle for us this year and to bring two really fast Fords to Daytona and lock out the front row is a testament to everything the men and women back there are doing and this Roush Yates power under the hood.”

That front row lock out for SHR came as Briscoe’s teammate, Aric Almirola, was second quick in time trials, and will start on the outside of the front row, as Fords took the top three spots and seven of the top 10 places on the starting grid.

“It’s a great starting spot for tomorrow,” said Almirola. “Getting the pole today would be awesome, but it’s not the end goal. The end goal is to end up in victory lane tomorrow, so I feel good about our car. We’ve had so much speed here with this Next Gen car and I feel good about it. Tomorrow is the day. I’ll lick my wounds tonight and tomorrow we’ll be ready.”

Harrison Burton was third fastest, while Bubba Wallace – who sits in the final transfer spot for the Playoffs going into the cutoff race – was fourth quick. Ty Gibbs, who sits 32 points behind Wallace in 17th, was fifth fastest.

Riley Herbst, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10 starters.

Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott, who is one of a number of drivers who need a win on Saturday night to make the Playoff cut, was only 23rd quick on Friday with a lap at 179.716 mph.

NASCAR Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Coke Zero Sugar 400 – August 25, 2023

Friday’s Qualifying Results

1. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 181.822 mph.
2. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 181.693 mph.
3. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, 181.404 mph.
4. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 181.309 mph.
5. (54) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 181.298 mph.
6. (36) Riley Herbst(i), Ford, 181.276 mph.
7. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 181.254 mph.
8. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 181.054 mph.
9. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford, 180.937 mph.
10. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 180.825 mph.
11. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 180.534 mph.
12. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 180.448 mph.
13. (19) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 180.390 mph.
14. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 180.281 mph.
15. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 180.260 mph.
16. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 180.205 mph.
17. (16) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 180.177 mph.
18. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 180.169 mph.
19. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 180.137 mph.
20. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 180.047 mph.
21. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 179.809 mph.
22. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 179.802 mph.
23. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 179.716 mph.
24. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 179.634 mph.
25. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 179.612 mph.
26. (62) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 179.261 mph.
27. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 179.172 mph.
28. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 179.094 mph.
29. (42) Josh Berry(i), Chevrolet, 179.026 mph.
30. (77) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 178.855 mph.
31. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 178.731 mph.
32. (47) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 178.635 mph.
33. (51) J.J. Yeley(i), Ford, 178.532 mph.
34. (15) Brennan Poole(i), Ford, 178.518 mph.
35. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 178.497 mph.
36. (13) Chandler Smith(i), Chevrolet, 178.458 mph.
37. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 178.310 mph.
38. (78) B.J. McLeod, Chevrolet, 177.876 mph.
39. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 177.473 mph.