DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second year in a row, the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota Tundra will lead the field to green in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
While it was Christian Eckes piloting the mount during time trials in 2019, Friday afternoon it was NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Riley Herbst who turned the fastest lap in Cometic Pole Qualifying.
Herbst toured the 2.5-mile superspeedway in 49.544 seconds (181.657 mph) to earn the pole, the first of his career in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and the 57th for KBM as a team.
“This is really cool,” said Herbst of earning the pole at Daytona. “This goes out to all the guys back at the Kyle Busch Motorsports shop; they don’t all get to come to the races, but they all put a ton of time and effort into these superspeedway trucks to make them as fast as we can get them. It’s everyone in the fab shop, everyone in the body shop that puts in the effort. Just proud of everyone on this team.
“To be on the pole here at Daytona is special, it’s my first pole in NASCAR, and now we’ll go out later tonight and see if we can’t turn it into a victory.”
Former series champion Brett Moffitt will join Herbst on the front row, qualifying second for GMS Racing at 49.548 seconds (181.642 mph) in the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado.
Eckes will roll off third (49.551/181.631), now in the No. 18 Toyota Tundra, followed by Ross Chastain and Johnny Sauter, a three-time Daytona Truck Series winner.
Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Raphael Lessard, Korbin Forrister and Matt Crafton completed the top 10.
With 39 trucks on the property for 32 starting spots, several notable names failed to qualify for the Truck Series season opener at Daytona.
Among them were both Nemecheks – Joe and John Hunter – as well as Norm Benning, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Clay Greenfield, Ray Ciccarelli and Todd Peck.
The NextEra Energy Resources 250 goes green at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday night, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
To view the complete starting lineup, advance to the next page.