Ross Chastain wins Daytona pole for NASCAR regular-season finale

Ross Chastain secured the pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway with a qualifying lap of 48.808 seconds. This marks Chastain’s first pole of the 2026 season and his third career Cup Series pole. He will start alongside Chris Buescher, who qualified second.

The qualifying session also determined the starting order for drivers fighting for the final spots in the postseason Chase. Austin Hill qualified third, followed by Ryan Preece in fourth and Riley Herbst in fifth. The top ten also includes Shane van Gisbergen, Connor Zilisch, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, and Kyle Larson.

In the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the regular season has concluded, setting a 12-driver Chase field led by top seed Justin Allgaier. The series will move to Darlington Raceway for the championship race. Meanwhile, in the Cup Series, drivers like Ryan Preece and Shane van Gisbergen are in a tight battle for the final playoff positions, with Preece trailing van Gisbergen by 31 points.