With both the Daytona Duels done and dusted, the hype revolving around the 66th edition of NASCAR’s official season opener is just on another level. Just the nature of the crash between Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and HMS star William Byron predicts the daredevilish nature of the upcoming 200-lap, 500-mile race on Sunday. So what does the starting grid look like? Let’s find out.
Advertisement
Row 1
1. Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford)
2. Michael McDowell (No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford)
Row 2
3. Tyler Reddick (No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota)
4. Christopher Bell (No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
Row 3
5. Chase Elliott (No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
6. Austin Cindric (No. 2 Team Penske Ford)
Row 4
7. Alex Bowman (No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
8. Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
Row 5
9. Carson Hocevar (No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet)
10. John Hunter Nemechek (No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota)
Row 6
11. Erik Jones (No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota)
12. Harrison Burton (No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford)
Row 7
13. Daniel Suarez (No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet)
14. Zane Smith (No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet)
Row 8
15. Ty Gibbs (No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
16. Brad Keselowski (No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford)
Row 9
17. Kyle Larson (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
18. William Byron (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
Row 10
19. Chris Buescher (No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford)
20. Chase Briscoe (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford)
Row 11
21. Ross Chastain (No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet)
22. Justin Haley (No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet)
Row 12
23. Jimmie Johnson (No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota)
24. Bubba Wallace (No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota)
Row 13
25. Ryan Preece (No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford)
26. Kaz Grala (No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford)
Row 14
27. Martin Truex Jr. (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
28. AJ Allmendinger (No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet)
Row 15
29. Corey Lajoie (No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet)
30. Josh Berry (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford)
Row 16
31. Todd Gilliland (No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford)
32. Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Team Penske Ford)
Row 17
33. Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)
34. Kyle Busch (No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)
Row 18
35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet)
36. Riley Herbst (No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet)
Row 19
37. Daniel Hemric (No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet)
38. Noah Gragson (No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford)
Row 20
39. Anthony Alfredo (No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet)
40. David Ragan (No. 60 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford)
The only ones who weren’t able to qualify are BJ McLeod driving the #78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet and JJ Yeley, piloting the #44 NY Racing Team Chevy. So, what are this year’s top predictions for the winning spot in the famed “Superbowl of NASCAR”? Surprisingly, it’s not who you might have expected.
A pair of massive shockers were revealed days before the main event
With Ricky Stenhouse Jr being last year’s Daytona 500 winner and Ryan Blaney being the reigning Cup Series champion, one might consider them the top picks to win the 66th Daytona 500. Some might even predict that it would be Denny Hamlin or, perhaps, Martin Truex Jr. to take home the prestigious Harley J. Earl Perpetual Trophy. But wait till you receive the blow.
At the moment Ross Chastain is one of the top picks for this year’s Daytona 500 winner. Holding off Blaney, the Melonman ended his 2023 season with a dominant victory at Phoenix Raceway, which gave him four victories in the last two seasons. Moreover, he does have a victory each in two of the first 10 races in 2022, including a triumph at Daytona’s sister track, Talladega Superspeedway. Coming to Daytona, Chastain has two top-10s in his last three starts at the 500 and has five overall at the 2.5-mile trioval.
Another unexpected driver, who is currently a favorite to win this year’s Daytona 500 is none other than RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher. Everybody knows how this Ford icon made it to the headlines last year after lifting his third trophy of the season at the Daytona regular-season finale. Although he led just two laps in that race and has been slammed with DNFs seven times out of his 16 Daytona attempts, Buescher will be treated differently now as the soft-spoken Texan has proved his status as a strong contender.
