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When will the 2026 Daytona International Speedway Cup Series race kick off?

By: ms25safron

Date:

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to begin at Daytona International Speedway with the Daytona 500. The season-opening prestigious event will be contested between 41 drivers for 500 miles at the 2.5-mile tri-oval superspeedway.

Last year, Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron took the checkered flag at Daytona after Tyler Reddick and Jimmie Johnson. The #24 HMS will look to win the third consecutive “The Great American Race,” and he will start 39th in Sunday’s (February 15) main event.

What is the green flag time for the NASCAR race today?

The green flag for the NASCAR Daytona 500 is set to wave at 2:13 pm ET on Sunday.

The live action of the iconic 500-mile NASCAR Cup Series season opener can be enjoyed on FOX, while radio coverage will be available at MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio in the United States.

Kyle Busch is on the pole for the Daytona 500 at Daytona

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch has secured the pole at Daytona for the first time in his career. He scored the pole with a time of 49.006 and a speed of 183.651 mph during the qualifying session.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Chase Briscoe will start alongside Busch in the front row. Joey Logano and Chase Elliott will start on the second row.

Daytona 500 starting lineup:

  1. #8 – Kyle Busch
  2. #19 – Chase Briscoe
  3. #22 – Joey Logano
  4. 39 – Chase Elliott
  5. #12 – Ryan Blaney
  6. #77 – Carson Hocevar
  7. #3 – Austin Dillon
  8. #5 – Kyle Larson
  9. #6 – Brad Keselowski
  10. #71 – Michael McDowell
  11. #42 – John Hunter Nemechek
  12. #20 – Christopher Bell
  13. #97 – Shane van Gisbergen
  14. #21 – Josh Berry
  15. #7 – Daniel Suárez
  16. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  17. #66 – Casey Mears
  18. #34 – Todd Gilliland
  19. #60 – Ryan Preece
  20. #54 – Ty Gibbs
  21. #48 – Alex Bowman
  22. #11 – Denny Hamlin
  23. #41 – Cole Custer
  24. #43 – Erik Jones
  25. #4 – Noah Gragson
  26. #45 – Tyler Reddick
  27. #23 – Bubba Wallace
  28. #35 – Riley Herbst
  29. #67 – Corey Heim
  30. #38 – Zane Smith
  31. #84 – Jimmie Johnson
  32. #88 – Connor Zilisch (R)
  33. #51 – Cody Ware
  34. #10 – Ty Dillon
  35. #16 – AJ Allmendinger
  36. #2 – Austin Cindric
  37. #1 – Ross Chastain
  38. #78 – B. J. McLeod
  39. #24 – William Byron
  40. #40 – Justin Allgaier (i)
  41. #17 – Chris Buescher