In a career that will eventually make him a first-ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer, there are few races Kyle Busch hasn’t won. Much to his chagrin, the Daytona 500 happens to be on that list.
But Busch will look to snap his multi-decade winless streak in NASCAR’s biggest race from the pole position after setting the fastest time in Daytona 500 qualifying Wednesday night.
The last driver to post a qualifying time, Busch bumped Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe off the No. 1 spot to prevent Briscoe from winning the Daytona 500 pole for a second consecutive year. It is Busch’s first Daytona 500 pole and seventh for Richard Childress Racing.
“This feels good,” Busch said. “Feels really good for RCR as a group. … Just a valiant effort by everybody here. It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night.”