2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will be in the first row for the highly anticipated Daytona 500. Larson went fastest in Wednesday’s qualifying for the event. The Hendrick Motorsports driver set a time of 49.680 seconds with a speed of 181.159 mph on Daytona’s 2.5-mile Superspeedway oval.
His teammate Alex Bowman also made the first row, setting a time of 49.711 seconds at a speed of 181.046 mph. The Great American Race starting grid is now set after both Duels. The Daytona 500 will see a full 40-car field for its 64th edition.
The #5 Chevrolet Camaro driver is in a good position to win his first Daytona 500. Not only is Kyle Larson the defending Cup Series champion, but his dominance last season makes him an easy favorite for the event. Larson's dominant run in the 2021 Cup Series was marked by 10 race wins and 26 top-10s in 36 races.
2022 Daytona 500 starting line-up
Here are the starting positions of the 40-car grid at Daytona International Speedway:
Row 1
1. #5 - Kyle Larson
2. #48 - Alex Bowman
Row 2
3. #6 - Brad Keselowski
4. #17 - Chris Buescher
Row 3
5. #2 - Austin Cindric (R)
6. #34 - Michael McDowell
Row 4
7. #12 - Ryan Blaney
8. #21 - Harrison Burton (R)
Row 5
9. #14 - Chase Briscoe
10. #18 - Kyle Busch
Row 6
11. #9 - Chase Elliott
12. #20 - Christopher Bell
Row 7
13. #43 - Erik Jones
14. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
Row 8
15. #8 - Tyler Reddick
16. #23 - Bubba Wallace
Row 9
17. #45 - Kurt Busch
18. #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Row 10
19. #1 - Ross Chastain
20. #22 - Joey Logano
Row 11
21. #99 - Daniel Suarez
22. #4 - Kevin Harvick
Row 12
23. #24 - William Byron
24. #7 - Corey LaJoie
Row 13
25. #31 - Justin Haley
26. #42 - Ty Dillon
Row 14
27. #77 - Landon Cassill
28. #44 - Greg Biffle
Row 15
29. #38 - Todd Gilliland (R)
30. #11 - Denny Hamlin
Row 16
31. #41 - Cole Custer
32. #51 - Cody Ware
Row 17
33. #16 - Daniel Hemric
34. #15 - David Ragan
Row 18
35. #50 - Kaz Grala
36. #3 - Austin Dillon
Row 19
37. #78 - B.J. McLeod
38. #10 - Aric Almirola
Row 20
39. #62 - Noah Gragson
40. #27 - Jacques Villeneuve