Qualifying concluded last night at Daytona International Speedway with Hendrick Motorsports dominating the session. Kyle Larson took pole position as he looks to continue his dominance from last season. His teammate Alex Bowman joins him on the front row as the two drivers locked in at first and second to start the Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports has been a consistent force at the front of the pack at the Daytona 500 for the last 8 years, taking pole in 7 of the last 8 Daytona 500s. However, for other teams, qualifying was not nearly as friendly.
It should be noted before talking about these teams and drivers that some of these cars were prepared for their racing trim, meaning the car should be tuned to perform better in a race rather than in qualifying. Kyle Larson said that was the case with his car, then took pole position, so this explanation also shouldn’t serve as an excuse for poor qualifying.
23XI Racing enters the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season with higher expectations after adding 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch to their driver lineup alongside Bubba Wallace. Wallace has developed a penchant for running towards the front at superspeedways, but appeared unsatisfied with his lap time of 50.196 seconds. That time was enough for 16th, but Wallace clearly believed he and his team could have gotten more out of the car. Kurt Busch struggled in his qualifying lap, putting in a time of 50.285 seconds, which was the slowest of the chartered Toyotas. Busch had the 25th fastest time and due to the duel qualifying races being separated into odd and even number qualifiers, Busch and Wallace will not compete in the same duel race. Wallace will have all four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas in his duel race to help improve their starting positions for the 500, but Kurt Busch will be one of two Toyotas in the first duel, with MBM Motorsports’ JJ Yeley starting far behind him.
Outside of a surprisingly brilliant qualifying session from Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing’s struggles from the 2021 season appear to have followed them into qualifying. Almirola had the 4th best time in qualifying and will start on the front row in the second duel. However, his teammates weren’t as fortunate. Chase Briscoe was the second highest qualifier from the SHR camp at 19th, followed by 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick at 26th and Cole Custer at 29th. Like any driver at Daytona, Almirola will need some help to stay up front in the duels and maintain his excellent starting position, but his only SHR teammate is starting far behind him. He’ll either need to drop back and help the team as a whole or find somebody else to help him up front. His fellow Fords Harrison Burton and Joey Logano may be able to help him out, otherwise it could be a wasted effort for Aric Almirola.
Not necessarily the most surprising due to JTG-Daugherty’s equipment not being close to the top tier in the sport, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. having the 32nd fastest time is a bit of a shocker. Stenhouse has been noted for his ability on superspeedways, and has put in impressive performances in the past at Daytona. Stenhouse won the 2017 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and qualified on the pole in 2020 for the Daytona 500. His aggressive driving has bitten him multiple times, but normally it pays off with a fast lap to get him in a good position. Starting near the back in his duel, one must wonder if Stenhouse will feel the need to push the car to make up for a subpar qualifying session.