February 25, 2026

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Starting lineup for America 250 Florida Duels at Daytona International Speedway

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After the preseason exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series takes the next stop at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500, the first points-paying race of the season. Fans were also eagerly awaiting the start of the 68th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 15, 2026. The prestigious event will be live on FOX and MRN at 2:30 pm ET.

The qualifying procedure for the Daytona 500 is unlike any other event to set a starting lineup for the main event.

Of 45 cars on the entry list, 41 will make the Daytona 500 field, and four open teams will be sent home. The 36 chartered entries and NASCAR’s provisional driver are confirmed to race on Sunday, leaving four spots for eight open teams. Out of four, two spots have already been locked in for Wednesday’s single-car qualifying at Daytona.

Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier were the two fastest drivers out of nine open entries who locked their spot for Sunday’s 500-mile race in a time trial. NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson also confirmed through NASCAR’s Open Exemption Provisional (OEP) rule.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday night qualifying, Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe were the two fastest drivers who secured front-row starting positions for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

The rest of the grid will be determined through Thursday night’s America 250 Florida Duels races. Each duel features 60 laps. Duel 1 will kick off at 7 pm ET, and Duel 2 will go live at 8:45 pm ET.

The Duel 1 result will set the inside row, and the results of Duel 2 will determine the outside row for the Daytona 500.

Daytona 500: Americo 250 Duel 1 and Duel 2 starting line-up

Here are the starting positions of drivers for NASCAR Duel races:

Duel 1

  1. #8 – Kyle Busch
  2. #60 – Ryan Preece
  3. #67 – Corey Heim
  4. #48 – Alex Bowman
  5. #17 – Chris Buescher
  6. #22 – Joey Logano
  7. #3 – Austin Dillon
  8. #99 – Corey LaJoie
  9. #42 – John Hunter Nemechek
  10. #6 – Brad Keselowski
  11. #12 – Ryan Blaney
  12. #24 – William Byron
  13. #41 – Cole Custer
  14. #51 – Cody Ware
  15. #84 – Jimmie Johnson
  16. #23 – Bubba Wallace
  17. #16 – AJ Allmendinger
  18. #1 – Ross Chastain
  19. #97 – Shane Van Gisbergen
  20. #7 – Daniel Suarez
  21. #36 – Chandler Smith
  22. #66 – Casey Mears
  23. #4 – Noah Gragson

Duel 2

  1. #19 – Chase Briscoe
  2. #11 – Denny Hamlin
  3. #5 – Kyle Larson
  4. #9 – Chase Elliott
  5. #54 – Ty Gibbs
  6. #20 – Christopher Bell
  7. #40 – Justin Allgaier
  8. #2 – Austin Cindric
  9. #38 – Zane Smith
  10. #71 – Michael McDowell
  11. #88 – Connor Zilisch
  12. #43 – Erik Jones
  13. #21 – Josh Berry
  14. #77 – Carson Hocevar
  15. #35 – Riley Herbst
  16. #34 – Todd Gilliland
  17. #62 – Anthony Alfredo
  18. #10 – Ty Dillon
  19. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
  20. #45 – Tyler Reddick
  21. #78 – BJ McLeod
  22. #44 – JJ Yeley