NASCAR’s Daytona 500 welcomes Trump, moves start time up 1 hour

• NASCAR will kick off its season Sunday, Feb. 16, with the 67th running of the Daytona 500. Officials have moved the race start time up one hour due to the threat of rain.
• President Trump is expected to make his second trip to Daytona to take part in pre-race festivities.
• Chase Briscoe is on the pole to start the race. Other notable drivers include Jimmy Johnson, Martin Truex and Helio Castroneves.

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Weather permitting, NASCAR will kick off its season Sunday, Feb. 16, with the 67th running of the Daytona 500. The start of the race has been moved up an hour to 2 p.m. EST due to the threat of rain.

President Donald Trump will attend pre-race festivities, as he did during his first term back in 2020. The president will likely repeat the most famous words in racing, saying, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” He also plans to take a few laps around the track in the presidential limousine.

Who will be racing?

The man on the pole is Chase Briscoe, who is in his first season, with Joe Gibbs racing. It’s his first ever Daytona pole and the first for a Toyota race car as well.

Briscoe laid down the fastest lap Wednesday, Feb. 12, averaging 182.745 miles per hour. That placed him just ahead of runner-up Austin Cindric.

“I felt like in practice my car was really, really good and then, you know, to go out there and qualifying and do the lap that we did,” Briscoe said. “I was like, man, I guess I was right; it did feel pretty good. So yeah, I’m curious to see how it’s going to race.”

The field was originally slated for 40 cars, but there will be a bonus 41st driver this year. Four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves will make his NASCAR debut, using a new provisional for “world-class drivers.” Castroneves crashed during a qualifying race but will still make the field.

“I learned so much, how to save fuel, how to, some so small details that people, folks from the other side of TV, don’t understand. It’s so interesting, and I love it,” Castroneves said. “Unfortunately we’re going to have to take the obviously, the provisional; that’s not what we wanted, but we will, and in the end we have more to learn.”

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a car in the field for the first time as an owner. His driver, Justin Allgaier, qualified on Thursday, finishing 9th in a duel race, to Earnhardt Jr.’s delight.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way; this was hard emotionally, but I can’t believe we get to race on Sunday! I can’t believe it!” Earnhardt Jr. said.

Recently retired NASCAR legends Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex also qualified for the 200-lap superspeedway race.