The 2026 America 250 Duels at Daytona Preview

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The front row is officially set for the Daytona 500 and now it’s time to set the rest of the field for the Great American Race on Sunday.

Pole winner Kyle Busch will lead the first duel field to green, starting just after 7 p.m. ET.

Shortly after the first Duel, outside front row starter Chase Briscoe will lead the second Duel to the green at around 8:45pm ET.

Both events will be broadcast on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

America 250 Duel 1 at Daytona

The first Duel features both Richard Childress Racing entries and all four RFK Racing entries — each rolling off inside the top-10.

Defending Duel 1 winner Bubba Wallace will have to charge from the back half of the field to continue his reign.

Finally, the open-car battle looks to be one-sided with Corey LaJoie starting in the top-10 and his three RFK Racing teammates around to help.

Meanwhile, the remaining two open entries, Chandler Smith and Casey Mears, have the tall task of working to outduel them.

The full America 250 Duel 1 lineup is as follows. Italics denote open cars

1. Kyle Busch
2. Ryan Preece
3. Corey Heim – qualified on speed
4. Alex Bowman
5. Chris Buescher
6. Joey Logano
7. Austin Dillon
8. Corey LaJoie
9. John Hunter Nemechek
10. Brad Keselowski
11. Ryan Blaney
12. William Byron
13. Cole Custer
14. Cody Ware
15. Jimmie Johnson
16. Bubba Wallace
17. AJ Allmendinger
18. Ross Chastain
19. Shane Van Gisbergen
20. Daniel Suarez
21. Chandler Smith
22. Casey Mears
23. Noah Gragson

America 250 Duel 2 at Daytona

Similar to the first Duel, the second Duel has another four-car team reunited for the event.

All four Joe Gibbs Racing cars start in the top six, including front row starters Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin. However, the teammates will be separated by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott who will start third and fourth, pushing the JGR teammates at the start.

Defending Duel winner Austin Cindric lines up in the top-10, looking to defend his second Duel win from a year ago.

Finally, the three open entries have a fighting chance against one another. Anthony Alfredo has the jump on his competitors as he starts two rows ahead of BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley.

The full America 250 Duel 2 lineup is as follows. Italics denote open cars:

1. Chase Briscoe
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Larson
4. Chase Elliott
5. Ty Gibbs
6. Christopher Bell
7. Justin Allgaier – qualified on speed
8. Austin Cindric
9. Zane Smith
10. Michael McDowell
11. Connor Zilisch
12. Erik Jones
13. Josh Berry
14. Carson Hocevar
15. Riley Herbst
16. Todd Gilliland
17. Anthony Alfredo
18. Ty Dillon
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20. Tyler Reddick
21. BJ McLeod
22. JJ Yeley