The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier was awarded the pole for the United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 15.
The event’s qualifying format was originally scheduled to consist of two rounds. Each round would be comprised of a single-lap session for each of the 41 entered competitors. After the first qualifying round, the top 10 fastest qualifiers would transfer to the final single-lap round and contend for the pole position.
Due to inclement weather, however, the event’s qualifying session which was initially reduced to a single round, was canceled. As a result, the event’s starting lineup was determined based on the owner points ranking of each entry.
This format awarded Allgaier the pole position as he piloted the No. 7 JR Motorsports (JRM) Chevrolet entry to both the 2024 Xfinity driver’s and owner’s championships.
The 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to mark Allgaier’s 15th campaign in the series as a full-time competitor and 10th driving for JRM. Having recorded one championship and 25 victories through 471 current starts in the Xfinity circuit, the Riverton, Illinois, veteran notched his first elusive victory at Daytona in August 2023. Through 14 previous starts in the Daytona opener, however, Allgaier’s best result is a runner-up finish in 2019 as he strives to commence a new Xfinity season by winning the opener for the first time in his illustrious career.
Saturday’s Xfinity event at Daytona will mark the first of two NASCAR national touring series events for Allgaier. He is scheduled to compete in Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 with JR Motorsports as the team competes in a Cup Series event for the first time.
With Allgaier starting in the pole position, Taylor Gray, an incoming rookie candidate for this year’s Xfinity Series season, will start in second place and on the front row. Gray, a 19-year-old native of Artesia New Mexico, will pilot the No. 54 Toyota Supra entry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). The entry that is racing with owner points transferred from JGR’s No. 20 team that finished in second place in the 2024 owner’s standings. He was the fastest competitor for the event’s lone practice session that occurred on Friday, February 14.
This past season, Gray campaigned in the Craftsman Truck Series on a full-time basis with TRICON Garage, where he made the Playoffs and finished sixth in the final standings. He also made his first 13 Xfinity starts with JGR this past season as he strives to make his presence well-known throughout this season.
Christian Eckes, another incoming Xfinity rookie competitor for Kaulig Racing, will start in third place and he will share the second row with Austin Hill, the reigning three-time consecutive Daytona opener winner and driver of the No. 21 Chevrolet entry for Richard Childress Racing. For this season, Hill will attempt to become the first competitor to win the Xfinity opener at Daytona for a fourth consecutive time since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment from 2008 to 2011.
Rookie William Sawalich, who is piloting the No. 18 JGR Toyota Supra entry for his first full-time Xfinity campaign, will line up in fifth place next to Sheldon Creed, who will be driving for the Haas Factory Team, on the third row. Brandon Jones, Sam Mayer, Jesse Love and rookie Carson Kvapil will occupy the remaining top-10 starting spots.
Notably, the following names that include Nick Sanchez, Daniel Dye, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg and Justin Bonsignore will start in the top 15, respectively. In addition, rookie Connor Zilisch, Josh Williams, Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements, Anthony Alfredo, Matt DiBenedetto, Harrison Burton and Ryan Truex will start 20th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 27th, 30th, 32nd and 33rd, respectively. Lastly, Jordan Anderson will round out the starting grid in 38th place.
With 41 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, CJ McLaughlin, Carson Ware and JJ Yeley were the three competitors who failed to qualify.
Starting lineup:
1. Justin Allgaier
2. Taylor Gray
3. Christian Eckes
4. Austin Hill
5. William Sawalich
6. Sheldon Creed
7. Brandon Jones
8. Sam Mayer
9. Jesse Love
10. Carson Kvapil
11. Nick Sanchez
12. Daniel Dye
13. Sammy Smith
14. Ryan Sieg
15. Justin Bonsignore
16. Greg Van Alst
17. Kris Wright
18. Brennan Poole
19. Dean Thompson
20. Connor Zilisch
21. Josh Williams
22. Jeb Burton
23. Kyle Sieg
24. Ryan Ellis
25. Jeremy Clements
26. Blaine Perkins
27. Anthony Alfredo
28. Parker Retzlaff
29. Josh Bilicki
30. Matt DiBenedetto
31. Garrett Smithley
32. Harrison Burton
33. Ryan Truex
34. Leland Honeyman
35. Patrick Emerling
36. Caesar Bacarella
37. Joey Gase
38. Jordan Anderson
The 2025 United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, February 15, and commence a new season of Xfinity Series competition. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 5 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
