Briscoe Earns Pole; Castroneves Ruffles Feathers Ahead Of Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Emotions have been charged as NASCAR drivers prepare to embark on the 2025 season this weekend with the 67th running of the Daytona 500.

Chase Briscoe, a native of Mitchell, Indiana, will lead the field to the green flag on race day this Sunday after posting the fastest single-lap run in qualifying on Wednesday. Briscoe’s speed of 182.745 was hard for the rest of the field of drivers trying to make the field.

“To be able to do that is really cool and really special,” Briscoe said. “Yeah, I mean, it is the pole. We’d much rather win the race, but it’s neat regardless. Even this whole off-season, a lot of the emphasis at JGR has been to qualify better at superspeedways.”

It’s Briscoe’s first career pole position in the NASCAR Cup Series as he begins his new career at Joe Gibbs Racing. He joined the team after the closing of Stewart-Haas Racing last year.

Though Hoosiers were certainly watching their native son take the pole position for the ‘Great American Race’, many were also watching one of their favorites from the IndyCar ranks.

Helio Castroneves is driving the ‘Project 91’ car for Trackhouse Racing as he hopes to take on the Daytona 500 in his first-ever foray into stock car racing. Castroneves was solid in practice, but only mustered a qualifying speed of 179.752 mph. He is 39th quickest out of 45 entries for the race.

Only 40 are expected to take the green flag on Sunday, but controversy has reared its head throughout the qualifying process that could see 41 cars start the race.

Castroneves has been given a ‘World Class Driver’ provisional, which means that regardless of his speed or performance in tonight’s Duals, he will be starting the Daytona 500 on Sunday. The provisional was requested by Trackhouse Racing in December and granted by NASCAR. This news was unexpected for many regular NASCAR drivers this week. It was especially a surprise for Jimmie Johnson who is no longer full-time in NASCAR and hopes to make the race to try and win it again.

Many drivers feel the provisional given to Castroneves should be given to Johnson, who before Wednesday was not guaranteed a spot in the field.

“We didn’t know about it until the rule came out,” Johnson said. “Evidently, it was buried in the charter agreement that came out. But when the rule came out, I forget the time of the morning, three minutes later, we were on the phone with NASCAR and recognized it wasn’t within the 90-day window and we weren’t eligible.”

“At the end of the day I understand,” Castroneves said. “I’m not the one that writes the rules. At the end of the day, I didn’t even know those rules exist. If I have to take (the provisional) I’ll take it.

Johnson was fast enough in qualifying to ensure he will start the race on Sunday. Martin Truex, Jr., now with Tricon Garage, was in the same situation as Johnson. Truex also made it in on speed.

Castroneves, as well as Johnson and Truex, will take part in the Duals tonight to figure out their starting position. Castroneves can also race his way into the field without the aid of the provisional. But if that happens, that will leave just one other qualifying spot for other drivers who have not yet made the show. If Castroneves does not get one of the two spots up for grabs tonight, he will start 41st at the tail end of the field.

Briscoe Earns Pole; Castroneves Ruffles Feathers Ahead Of Daytona 500 was originally published on wibc.com