Busch had the fastest time of qualifying overall in his first run with a 48.933. He was the only driver to break 49 seconds at all during qualifying; his eventual pole lap came in at a 49.006.
Busch will lead the field on Sunday. The two-time champion has never won the Daytona 500 and could add that feat to his storied Cup Series career. First, he led Duel 1 Thursday night to set the grid for the inside lane order for the Daytona 500.
Hours later, Briscoe led the way for the Duel 2 race to set the grid for the outside lane order in the race. Those two locked out the front row ahead of time and it was up to the other 43 drivers to sort out how things will look on Lap 1 on Sunday.
After the two Duel races Thursday night, here’s how the starting grid looks:
Daytona 500 starting grid
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing
Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing
Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing
Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing
Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports
Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66
Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports
Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team
Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club
Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports
Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing
Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing
Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing
Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports
Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Legacy Motor Club
Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing
Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing
Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing
Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing
Anthony Alfredo, No. 62 Beard Motorsports
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports
Justin Allgaier, No. 40 JR Motorsports
Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing