All-time Daytona 500 front row starters

The front row – the first and second-place starters – for the season-opening Daytona 500 will be set Wednesday night in qualifying at Daytona International Speedway.

HOW IT WORKS

The top-two positions for NASCAR’s biggest race will be determined after two rounds of single-car qualifying.

Each of the 45 drivers entered for the race will turn one timed lap with the Top-10 fastest drivers advancing to the second and final round.

The single-car, single-lap process will repeat with the remaining drivers. The top-two drivers will earn the front row starting positions

The rest of the field will be determined by their finishing order in The Duels at Daytona Thursday night, two 60-lap races.

HISTORY
In the 66-year history of the race, 68 different drivers have started The Great American Race on the front row. 

Alex Bowman is the current record holder with six front row starts, which all came consecutive from 2018 to 2023.

All-time, 45 drivers have won the pole for the race with Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott, and Cale Yarborough tied for the most at four. Alex Bowman, who has won the pole three times, could tie the trio for most all-time Wednesday.

On 10 occasions, the polesitter has won the Daytona 500 while the outside polesitter has won eight times. 

The most recent pole sitter to win the Daytona 500 was Dale Jarrett in 2000. Additionally, Dale Jarrett is the most recent outside pole sitter to win the race, doing so in 1993.

2024 saw a sweep of Ford earning the front row with Joey Logano winning the pole and Michael McDowell starting second. Prior to last year, Chevrolet swept the front row from the Daytona 500 from 2019 to 2023.

Toyota has never had a driver win the pole in the Daytona 500 since joining the series in 2007, but has earned three front row starts (Michael Waltrip 2008, Matt Kenseth 2016, and Denny Hamlin 2018).

Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET.

ALL-TIME FRONT ROW STARTS

6: Alex Bowman
5: Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough
4: Donnie Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Jarrett, Jimmie Johnson
3: Davey Allison, A.J. Foyt, Fireball Roberts, Bobby Isaac, David Pearson, Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader
2: Geoff Bodine, Greg Biffle, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ernie Irvan, Terry Labonte, Kyle Larson, Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Darrell Waltrip
1: Loy Allen Jr., Bobby Allison, Jeff Burton, Stacy Compton, Darel Dieringer, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards, Harry Gant, David Gilliland, Paul Goldsmith, Jeff Green, Steve Grissom, Pete Hamilton, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Dick Hutcherson, Ron Hutcherson, Junior Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Fred Lorenzon, Sterling Marlin, Michael McDowell, Cotton Owens, Benny Parsons, Danica Patrick, Kyle Petty, Shorty Rollins, Terry Ryan, Elliott Sadler, Mike Skinner, Jack Smith, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tony Stewart, Ramo Stott, Curtis Turner, Michael Waltrip, Joe Weatherly, Bob Welborn

ALL-TIME POLE WINNERS
4: Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott, Cale Yarborough
3: Alex Bowman, Dale Jarrett, Fireball Roberts, Ken Schrader
2: Donnie Allison, Chase Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson
1: Loy Allen Jr., Davey Allison, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, William Byron, Darel Dieringer, Austin Dillon, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, A.J. Foyt, David Gilliland, Paul Goldsmith, Jeff Green, Bobby Isaac, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Cotton Owens, Benny Parsons, Danica Patrick, David Pearson, Kyle Petty, Richard Petty, Ricky Rudd, Mike Skinner, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ramo Stott, Martin Truex Jr., Curtis Turner, Darrell Waltrip, Bob Welborn