Briscoe has struggled this year with just six top-10 finishes through 25 races and he’ll need a win in Saturday night’s race at Daytona International Speedway to make the 16-driver playoff field.
As the last car to make a qualifying attempt in the final round, Briscoe’s average lap speed of 181.822 mph just edged Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola (181.693 mph), who ended up second quick.
The pole is the first this season for Briscoe and the second of his career. His only other pole came last spring at Atlanta.
“It feels good,” said Briscoe, who is currently 31st in the series standings. “It’s just a testament to all the men and women at Stewart-Haas. “For us to lock up the front row is really cool.”
Almirola said SHR “certainly brought a lot of speed” to the Daytona regular season finale.
“We’ve had great speedway cars all year long and this place has been a great place for us,” he said. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow night. Tonight, we’ll lick our wound son missing out on the pole but tomorrow night is the big prize.”
Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing, Smithfield Ford Mustang and Drew Blickensderfer, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Mustang
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Fellow Ford driver Harrison Burton ended up third fastest (181.404 mph).
Rounding out the top five were Toyota drivers Bubba Wallace – who currently holds the final playoff spot on points – and Ty Gibbs.
Completing the top-10 starting lineup: Riley Herbst, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece and Kevin Harvick.
In all, Fords claimed seven of the top-10 starting positions and the top five qualifiers all need a win in Saturday night’s race to guarantee a spot in the 2023 playoffs.
Round 1
Fords were dominant early in qualifying at Daytona with Briscoe leading the way in the first round with an average lap speed of 181.723 mph.
Wallace was second quick at 181.167 mph and Herbst, driving a third Front Row Motorsports Ford entry this week, was third fastest at 181.148 mph.
Gibbs was fourth and Larson rounded out the top five and the only Chevrolet driver to advance to the final round.
Also advancing to the final round were Burton, Almirola, Blaney, Harvick and Preece.
RFK Racing drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher were the first two drivers to miss cracking the top-10.
Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 Chevrolet failed inspection twice and had a crew member ejected from the track. Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry is driving the car this week.
The No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet of Chandler Smith also failed inspection twice and had a crew member ejected.