Daytona 500 battle lines drawn

All is in readiness for Shane van Gisbergen’s first Daytona 500 after final NASCAR Cup Series practice was completed today.

Van Gisbergen’s rookie NASCAR Cup Series season begins with the biggest race of them all, the Daytona 500, which begins at 5.30 AEDT Monday morning.

For the first time a Toyota will start the “Great American Race” from pole position thanks to Chase Briscoe’s rapid effort ahead of Austin Cindric.

Following the Duels, Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones snagged second row starts with last year’s winner William Byron completing the top five in the #24.

New Zealand star van Gisbergen will line up from a solid 26th, in the #88 WeatherTech Trackhouse Racing Camaro.

Teams tuned up for the big race by completing final practice on race eve where Brad Keselowski emerged on top.

His time of 46.558s/193.307mph was just enough to edge out Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who had the best 10 lap average speed.

Van Gisbergen was 19th fastest in the practice session, having recovered from getting caught up in a heavy multi-car crash at the end of his Duel where he was still 14th.

Shane van Gisbergen on tracka t Daytona. Image: HHP/Andrew Coppley)

After the incident the Kiwi was a bit confused about what happened, but still took a lot of lessons ahead of what will only be his second Cup Series race at Daytona.

“I’m not really sure what happened,” SVG reflected on his Duel finish. 

“We were all getting a bit tight off of turn four. I was just kind of riding and got spun into the fence. 

“I’m not sure if that was my fault with the car placement, but I felt like I was doing it right. 

“I was learning a lot; saved a lot of fuel and jumped up a lot of spots at the start.

“I’m not sure what happened at the end. It’s not fun when we’re crashing at the end, that’s for sure.”

For the record Marcos Ambrose finished his first Daytona 500 in 2009 in 17th.

The 2025 Daytona 500 begins at 5.30 AEDT and will be broadcast on Fox Sports.

Main image: HHP/Blake Harris

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.