RCR sweeps front row for NASCAR Xfinity Series at Daytona
Richard Childress Racing swept the front row for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ United Rentals 300 at Daytona with Jesse Love and Austin Hill.
Love will start on the pole for his Xfinity Series debut. RCR has now had a car on the pole at Daytona in 6 of the last 11 Xfinity races.
Hill, who won the pole for both Daytona races last year, will start second. It marks his fourth front row start in the last five Xfinity races at Daytona.
Kaulig Racing, the team that won the three poles before RCR started their current run at Daytona, had two cars qualify in the top-5 for Saturday’s race.
A.J. Allmendinger will start third. He won the pole for the August race at Daytona in 2021 and 2022.
Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen, in his NASCAR drafting track debut, was the first driver to run a lap in the 49.8-second range. He sat atop the leaderboard for a little while until getting knocked back to fifth.
Chevrolet teams, in general, dominated qualifying. John Hunter Nemechek qualified eighth and is the only non-Chevrolet driver who will start in the top-10.
TOP-10 STARTERS: Love, Hill, Allmendinger, Parker Kligerman, Van Gisbergen, Justin Allgaier, Jeremy Clements, Nemechek, Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo
On the other end, Joey Gase, Caesar Bacarella, Dawson Cram, CJ McLaughlin, Kyle Sieg and Stanton Barrett failed to qualify for the race.
Through the Field
In his first race for JR Motorsports, Sammy Smith qualified 12th. Behind him is Patrick Emerling who will start 13th – his best career Xfinity starting spot.
Sheldon Creed, in his maiden voyage with Joe Gibbs Racing, will start 14th. Teammates Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex will start 19th and 20th.
Defending champion Cole Custer will start 17th, sharing row nine with Daniel Suarez in 18th.
Leland Honeyman locked himself into the race, qualifying 24th. It is also Young’s Motorsports’ first Xfinity Series start. They will run full-time together in 2024.
Hailie Deegan will start 29th as she kicks off her first full-time Xfinity effort, driving for AM Racing.
Jordan Anderson qualified 30th in a third Jordan Anderson Racing entry.
Sage Karam will return to the Xfinity Series, starting 32nd for Sam Hunt Racing.
Frankie Muniz was 37th-fastest in qualifying. However, he earned a spot in the race with a provisional based on owner points from last year.
Dawson Cram was originally out of the race but he got in after David Starr’s car failed post-qualifying inspection.
Full starting lineup
Race details
With inclement weather looming, NASCAR moved the start time to 4:30 p.m. ET The race will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Last year, Austin Hill won the February race while Justin Allgaier won the August race.
Odds
Hill is the favorite to win at +450. Allgaier is next with +1000 odds, tied with John Hunter Nemechek and A.J. Allmendinger.
If you’re looking for a value pick, consider Anthony Alfredo at +4500 or Jeremy Clements at +6000.
NASCAR Xfinity Series pole winners at Daytona since 2019
- February 2019 Tyler Reddick pole
- July 2019 Tyler Reddick on pole
- February 2020 Myatt Snider pole
- August 2020 Chase Briscoe
- February 2021 Austin Cindric
- August 2021 AJ Allmendinger
- February 2022 Daniel Hemric
- August 2022 AJ Allmendinger
- February 2023 Austin Hill pole
- August 2023 Austin Hill pole
- February 2024 Jesse Love pole
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com