RYAN BLANEY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion - Qualified 7th - “It is nice to be locked into the race. The biggest relief for us is to know you are locked in and are good to be able to race in the 500. That kind of lets us go race on Thursday a little bit more than we would have instead of playing it conservative if we weren’t locked in."
After blowing a right rear tire on lap 13 in Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. overcame the damage to his Fastenal Ford to take the checkered flag in the sixth position earning his best finish in three starts.
Greg Biffle rebounded from being involved in multiple cautions in the Sprint Unlimited to cross the finish line 10th in the No. 16 KFC Nashville Hot Ford Fusion.
On the final lap in Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited overtime race, Martin Truex Jr. got wrecked while running close to the leaders in the non-points event at Daytona International Speedway. The incident shoved Truex back to an unlucky 13th place finish in the opening race of Speedweeks.
Richard Childress Racing drivers Paul Menard, Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman finished third, eighth and 19th, respectively, in the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion (Finished 2nd) – “It was crazy like normal right? What a great race. I had a great Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion and we kept working our way up from the back and it was hard for us to get that lead. We had a decent start and the 20 was pushing me well and we were trying to get the right push. Larson and I worked really well together all day. I got him there at the end right behind me and I don’t know what started that crash there at the end. We were so close, right next to the 11 when they started crashing there. It is a good start for the weekend and I am proud of what we did. I want to get out there for the 500 now and try to get another big trophy.”
PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 PEAK ANTIFREEZE/MENARD CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3RD - WAS IT AS WILD FROM THE DRIVER’S SEAT AS IT WAS FOR THE FANS?“It was a lot of fun. We struggled with speed by ourselves, but the car just drafted really well. I picked some wrong lanes and I picked some right lanes and in the end, the middle worked pretty well. It was a wild race and a lot of fun.”
Crew chiefs drew their drivers' starting positions for the race on Friday -- the Sprint Unlimited (75 laps, 187.5 miles) is set for the green flag Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Crew chief Chad Knaus landed the prime position for Jimmie Johnson, who will start from the pole position. Johnson has visited Victory Lane at the 2.5-mile track three times in his career.
As the Chase begins, two RFK Racing teams will be vying for NASCAR's 2026 crown. Chris Buescher (10th) and Ryan Preece (16th) are both eying their first Cup Series championship.
NASCAR enters The Chase presented by Mobil 1 following a 2026 regular season marked by broad-based growth across nearly every key area of the business.
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