The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season officially got underway on Thursday night with the two America 250 Florida Duel races at Daytona International Speedway, as points were awarded to the top 10 finishers in each Daytona 500 qualifying race.
But the true first race on the 36-race 2026 schedule is Sunday's 68th running of the 200-lap "Great American Race" around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval.
Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch took the pole position with his qualifying speed in Wednesday night's single-car qualifying session, and Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe joined him on the front row.
The second row consists of Duel race No. 1 winner Joey Logano of Team Penske and Duel race No. 2 winner Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports.
A full Daytona 500 starting lineup can be found here, and a lineup with modifications for pre-race penalties can be found here.
Follow along with our Daytona 500 updates from Daytona International Speedway.
Note that points are set to be awarded to the top 10 finishers in the race's first two stages, similar to the two Duel qualifying races.
Daytona 500 Stage 1 results
1 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
2 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
3 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
4 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
5 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
6 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
7 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
8 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
9 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
10 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Daytona 500 Stage 2 results
1 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
2 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
3 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
4 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
5 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
6 - Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota
7 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
8 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
9 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
10 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Daytona 500 results
1 - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
2 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
3 - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
4 - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
5 - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
6 - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
7 - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
8 - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
9 - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
10 - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
11 - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
12 - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
13 - Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
14 - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
15 - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
16 - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
17 - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
18 - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
19 - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
20 - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
21 - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
22 - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
23 - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
24 - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
25 - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
26 - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
27 - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
28 - Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota
29 - Jimmie Johnson, No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
30 - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
31 - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
32 - Casey Mears, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
33 - Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
34 - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
35 - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
36 - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
37 - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
38 - Justin Allgaier, No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevrolet
39 - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
40 - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
41 - B.J. McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet
NASCAR standings after Daytona 500
1 - Tyler Reddick - 58
2 - Joey Logano - 46
3 - Chase Elliott - 43
4 - Zane Smith - 41
5 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - 39
5 - Brad Keselowski - 39
5 - Chris Buescher - 39
8 - Bubba Wallace - 37
9 - Ryan Blaney - 36
10 - Riley Herbst - 35
10 - Daniel Suarez - 35
12 - Carson Hocevar - 34
13 - Josh Berry - 33
14 - Kyle Busch - 29
14 - Kyle Larson - 29
16 - Noah Gragson - 27
17 - Michael McDowell - 26
18 - William Byron - 25
18 - John Hunter Nemechek - 25
20 - Ty Dillon - 23
21 - Cody Ware - 20
22 - A.J. Allmendinger - 19
23 - Ross Chastain - 17
23 - Ryan Preece - 17
25 - Erik Jones - 16
25 - Ty Gibbs - 16
27 - Corey Heim - 14
28 - Cole Custer - 13
29 - Shane van Gisbergen - 12
29 - Austin Cindric - 12
31 - Austin Dillon - 9
32 - Jimmie Johnson - 8
32 - Casey Mears - 8
32 - Christopher Bell - 8
35 - Denny Hamlin - 7
36 - Connor Zilisch - 4
36 - Todd Gilliland - 4
36 - Alex Bowman - 4
39 - Chase Briscoe - 1
39 - Justin Allgaier - 1
39 - B.J. McLeod - 1
Race number two on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Autotrader 400, which is set to be shown live on Fox from EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway) beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 22. Begin a free trial of FuboTV if you've yet to do so and don't miss the series' second consecutive superspeedway race!