Kyle Larson continues Hendrick domination with Daytona 500 pole, Gragson and Villeneuve qualify on speed

Death, taxes, and a Chevrolet winning the Daytona 500 pole.

For the tenth straight year, a Chevrolet topped the qualifying charts for the NASCAR Cup Series‘ season opener on Wednesday. This time, it was defending champion Kyle Larson who got to claim the first pole award of the 2022 season while Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Alex Bowman was on the front row for the fifth consecutive 500.

All four Hendrick cars led the first round of qualifying with 2019 500 pole sitter William Byron in front. The top ten—from Byron to Daniel Suárez—advanced to the second and final round, where Larson set the fastest time of 49.680 seconds at 181.159 mph. Larson is the fifth reigning champion to win the pole for the following season’s 500 after Cale Yarborough (1978), Dale Jarrett (2000), Jeff Gordon (1999), and Jimmie Johnson (2008). Poetically and perhaps owing to the team’s dominance over the years, Gordon and Johnson were also Hendrick drivers while the former is currently its vice chairman.

Despite Larson enjoying a highly successful 2021 season and an overall solid Cup career, superspeedways have been a kryptonite for him. Prior to 2022, his best 500 starting position was eighth, his average finish at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway are a mediocre 21.1 and 24.5, respectively, and he has more retirements than top tens at Daytona (six to five). However, he has scored top tens in his last three Daytona 500s.

Larson described the pole as feeling like his “proudest pole because you’re proud of everybody who had an impact in doing it.”

Bowman, the 2018 and 2021 pole sitter, has never started outside the front row since becoming a full-time Hendrick driver in 2018. He joins NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees Elliott (whose son Chase qualified sixth and is a two-time 500 pole winner for Hendrick), Gordon, Yarborough, Buddy Baker, and Richard Petty for the most total front-row starts in the 500, though Bowman is the only one to do it consecutively.

Among the six non-chartered cars, Noah Gragson and Jacques Villeneuve qualified thirty-third and thirty-sixth to guarantee them positions in the 500. Gragson’s run, driving for Beard Motorsports, ensures he will finally make his Cup début after being involved in a wreck in his Duel last year. Gragson, whose Xfinity Series team JR Motorsports is a Hendrick affiliate, gives Beard Motorsports the chance to properly salute late team owner Mark Beard, who passed away prior to the 2021 500.

Villeneuve is the second driver to win a Formula One World Championship and race in the Daytona 500 after Mario Andretti, but the first to run the Great American Race after scoring the F1 title. The 1997 F1 champion previously tried to make the 500 in 2008 but failed, while his last Cup start was in 2013. When grouping his past accolades like his 1995 Indianapolis 500 triumph with the 500 qualification, Villeneuve can finally add another NASCAR achievement to his resumé along with a Whelen Euro Series race victory in 2021.

The Canadian regarded the qualification as ranking “super high” on his list of accomplishments. His 500 début will also be the first race as a whole for Team Hezeberg.

“Obviously, it’s not a win,” he continued. “It’s not like winning the Indy 500 or the F1 championship, but at this point in my career the last time I tried to qualify here was fourteen years ago, just to make the show is incredible because it’s a small team. We didn’t link up with a big team to get the car ready and it’s highly unexpected to be able to make it on time, so it ranks right after these big wins.”

While Gragson and Villeneuve can celebrate making the race on speed, Kaz Grala, Greg Biffle, J.J. Yeley, and Timmy Hill will need to have strong finishes in Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel to qualify. Grala is aiming to ensure The Money Team Racing can make its maiden race, while Biffle is seeking his first Cup start since 2016. Yeley and Hill, MBM Motorsports team-mates, respectively made their last 500 runs in 2015 and 2020.

Round #1 results

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Best Time	Best Speed (mph)	Margin
1	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.765	180.850	Leader
2	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.789	180.763	+ 0.024
3	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.870	180.469	+ 0.105
4	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	49.927	180.263	+ 0.162
5	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	49.946	180.195	+ 0.181
6	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	50.051	179.817	+ 0.286
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	50.078	179.720	+ 0.313
8	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	50.139	179.501	+ 0.374
9	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	50.152	179.454	+ 0.387
10	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	50.157	179.437	+ 0.392
11	16	Daniel Hemric*	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	50.159	179.429	+ 0.394
12	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	50.160	179.426	+ 0.395
13	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	50.162	179.419	+ 0.397
14	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	50.187	179.329	+ 0.422
15	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	50.191	179.315	+ 0.426
16	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	50.196	179.297	+ 0.431
17	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	50.196	179.297	+ 0.431
18	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	50.202	179.276	+ 0.437
19	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	50.203	179.272	+ 0.438
20	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	50.204	179.269	+ 0.439
21	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	50.205	179.265	+ 0.440
22	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	50.209	179.251	+ 0.444
23	43	Erik Jones	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.218	179.219	+ 0.453
24	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.225	179.194	+ 0.460
25	45	Kurt Busch	23XI Racing	Toyota	50.285	178.980	+ 0.520
26	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	50.312	178.884	+ 0.547
27	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	50.315	178.873	+ 0.550
28	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	50.378	178.649	+ 0.613
29	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	50.539	178.080	+ 0.774
30	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.550	178.042	+ 0.785
31	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	50.559	178.010	+ 0.794
32	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	50.639	177.729	+ 0.874
33	62	Noah Gragson*	Beard Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.689	177.553	+ 0.924
34	77	Landon Cassill*	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.884	176.873	+ 1.119
35	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	50.928	176.720	+ 1.163
36	27	Jacques Villeneuve	Team Hezeberg	Ford	51.010	176.436	+ 1.245
37	50	Kaz Grala*	The Money Team Racing	Chevrolet	51.094	176.146	+ 1.329
38	44	Greg Biffle*	NY Racing Team	Chevrolet	51.100	176.125	+ 1.335
39	78	B.J. McLeod	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	51.153	175.943	+ 1.388
40	15	David Ragan	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	51.216	175.726	+ 1.451
41	55	J.J. Yeley*	MBM Motorsports	Ford	52.005	173.060	+ 2.240
42	66	Timmy Hill*	MBM Motorsports	Ford	52.263	172.206	+ 2.498

Odd-positioned cars in Duel #1, even in Duel #2
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Cup points
Bold – Open car that is locked in
Underscore – Open car, have to qualify on Duel result

Round #2 results

Position	Number	Driver	Best Time	Best Speed (mph)	Margin
1	5	Kyle Larson	49.680	181.159	Leader
2	48	Alex Bowman	49.711	181.046	+ 0.031
3	24	William Byron	49.765	180.850	+ 0.085
4	10	Aric Almirola	49.854	180.527	+ 0.174
5	9	Chase Elliott	49.913	180.314	+ 0.233
6	19	Martin Truex Jr.	49.989	180.040	+ 0.309
7	1	Ross Chastain	50.043	179.845	+ 0.363
8	11	Denny Hamlin	50.077	179.723	+ 0.397
9	99	Daniel Suárez	50.106	179.619	+ 0.426
10	21	Harrison Burton	50.137	179.508	+ 0.457