Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe delivered Toyota their first ever pole position for the Daytona 500 in Wednesday night's single-car qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway.
But beyond the first few laps of Sunday's 201-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval, he really wasn't a factor. He only led four laps, the first four laps of the race, and his No. 19 Toyota faded for much of the afternoon and evening.
And that's what makes what he managed to pull off on lap 201 that much more unlikely.
Not since 2000 has the Daytona 500 polesitter actually gone on to win the race, back when Dale Jarrett pulled it off.
Two years ago, Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman secured the first top five finish for a polesitter since Bill Elliott finished in fifth place back in 2001.
Briscoe was able to battle throughout the race and keep the No. 19 car relatively clean. Though he was involved in the last-lap crash which carved out a path for eventual race winner William Byron to go from seventh place to his second straight "Great American Race" win, Briscoe still managed to secure fourth place.
It marked the first top four finish for a Daytona 500 polesitter since Jarrett won the race for a third time, 25 years ago.
Including Daytona's summer race, it has been nearly 10 years since a polesitter won at the track. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won in July 2015.
All in all, the entire Daytona 500 marked a strong start to the season for Briscoe, who spent the first four seasons of his Cup Series career with Stewart-Haas Racing before moving to Joe Gibbs Racing ahead of the 2025 season as the replacement for 2017 series champion Martin Truex Jr.
Race number two of the 2025 season is scheduled to take place at Atlanta Motor Speedway, giving the NASCAR Cup Series two straight superspeedway races to begin the year. The Ambetter Health 400 is set to be shown live on Fox beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 23. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!