Rajah Caruth took a critical step forward in his quest to make the Chase by notching his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole position for the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, August 28.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a two-round qualifying session. The first session featured 39 competitors battling for 38 starting spots, all of whom cycled once around Daytona to post the fastest lap. At the end of the first session, the top-10 fastest qualifiers advanced to the second and final round, where they contested pole position.
During the qualifying session, Caruth was the fastest competitor in the first round, posting 182.537 mph in 49.305 seconds. After being one of 10 competitors to transfer to the second and final qualifying round, he posted another fast lap at 183.232 mph in 49.118 seconds. Caruth’s latest lap was enough for the Washington, D.C., native to clinch the pole.
With the pole, Caruth became the 220th competitor overall to achieve a pole position in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division, the fourth first-time pole winner of the 2026 season and the first African-American competitor to achieve the feat since Bubba Wallace made the latest at Dover Motor Speedway in May 2015.
Caruth, who is in his first full-time campaign in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division, spent the first 22-scheduled events splitting seats between JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet and Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 32 Chevrolet entries. Since the series’ recent event at Iowa Speedway in early August, Caruth has the former entry all to himself. After coming off a career-best runner-up result at Iowa, Caruth is currently ranked in 14th place in the 2026 driver standings and is 15 points below the top-12 cutline as he attempts to make his first-ever Chase in the series.
Caruth will share the front row with teammate Carson Kvapil, the latter of whom was the second-fastest competitor (182.856 mph in 49.219 seconds) during the qualifying session’s two rounds. Kvapil is coming off his first two O’Reilly career victories in back-to-back events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Iowa Speedway, respectively, and is one of eight competitors who have clinched early berths to the Chase.
Jesse Love, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith, all of whom have also clinched early Chase berths, will start in the top five, respectively. Sam Mayer, who is 19 points above the top-12 cutline while ranked in 10th place in the standings, qualified in sixth place ahead of William Sawalich, the latter of whom is a single point above the cutline while ranked in 11th place. Austin Hill, who is already guaranteed a Chase berth, claimed the eighth-place starting spot while Anthony Alfredo, who is eliminated from Chase contention, will roll off the starting grid in ninth place.
Lastly, Taylor Gray, who is a single point below the Chase cutline in 13th place in the standings, will start in 10th place. Gray is also 14 points above Caruth as the former attempts to make his second consecutive Chase.
Notably, Brent Crews and Parker Retzlaff, both battling for Chase berths, qualified 17th and 24th, respectively. Crews is tied with teammate Sawalich with points, but holds the 12th and final transfer spot to the Chase cutline by just a single point. Meanwhile, Retzlaff, who is ranked in ninth place in the standings, is 46 points above the cutline as he is poised to make his first Chase.
With 39 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Dawson Cram was the lone competitor who did not make the main event.
Daytona – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:
- Rajah Caruth, 183.232 mph, 49.118 seconds
- Carson Kvapil, 182.856 mph, 49.219 seconds
- Jesse Love, 182.600 mph, 49.288 seconds
- Sheldon Creed, 182.482 mph, 49.320 seconds
- Sammy Smith, 182.437 mph, 49.332 seconds
- Sam Mayer, 182.415 mph, 49.338 seconds
- William Sawalich, 182.315 mph, 49.365 seconds
- Austin Hill, 182.216 mph, 49.392 seconds
- Anthony Alfredo, 181.870 mph, 49.486 seconds
- Taylor Gray, 181.360 mph, 49.625 seconds
- Harrison Burton, 181.419 mph, 49.609 seconds
- Ryan Sieg, 181.415 mph, 49.610 seconds
- Brandon Jones, 181.411 mph, 49.611 seconds
- Corey Day, 181.408 mph, 49.612 seconds
- Nick Sanchez, 181.408 mph, 49.612 seconds
- Dean Thompson, 181.393 mph, 49.616 seconds
- Brent Crews, 181.218 mph, 49.664 seconds
- Justin Allgaier, 181.141 mph, 49.685 seconds
- Josh Williams, 181.097 mph, 49.697 seconds
- Leland Honeyman Jr., 180.788 mph, 49.782 seconds
- Caesar Bacarella, 180.745 mph, 49.794 seconds
- Ryan Ellis, 180.665 mph, 49.816 seconds
- Kyle Sieg, 180.596 mph, 49.835 seconds
- Parker Retzlaff, 180.513 mph, 49.858 seconds
- Daniel Dye, 180.509 mph, 49.859 seconds
- Natalie Decker, 180.480 mph, 49.867 seconds
- Garrett Smithley, 180.076 mph, 49.979 seconds
- Jeremy Clements, 180.068 mph, 49.981 seconds
- Jeb Burton, 179.971 mph, 50.008 seconds
- Patrick Staropoli, 179.651 mph, 50.097 seconds
- Lavar Scott, 179.544 mph, 50.127 seconds
- Joey Gase, 179.497 mph, 50.140 seconds
- Brennan Poole, 179.261 mph, 50.206 seconds
- Carson Ware, 179.129 mph, 50.243 seconds
- Mason Maggio, 179.104 mph, 50.250 seconds
- Blaine Perkins, 179.090 mph, 50.254 seconds
- Josh Bilicki, 178.525 mph, 50.413 seconds
- Andy Jankowiak, 175.432 mph, 51.302 seconds
The 2026 Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to occur on Friday, August 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM.
