NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney. Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Ryan Blaney on NASCAR Cup Series pole at Daytona after weather cancels qualifying

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Aug 22, 2025 5:41 PM ET

2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney will start his quest for his second win at Daytona International Speedway from the pole on Saturday.

Qualifying for Saturday's Coke Zero Sugar 400 was canceled due to weather on Friday afternoon, forcing the lineup to be set by the NASCAR rulebook. NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying was also canceled earlier in the day, and the weather outlook for Friday evening's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona remains iffy.

NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at @DAYTONA has also been cancelled due to lightning.

Ryan @Blaney will start P1 on the front row with @Alex_Bowman. pic.twitter.com/NVzCGvxFK0
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) August 22, 2025

Blaney will be joined on the front row by Alex Bowman, with Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric rounding out the top five. Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski will complete the top-10 starting positions.

Other notable starters include Kyle Busch in 14th, Christopher Bell in 15th, Bubba Wallace in 22nd, Chris Buescher in 24th and Ryan Preece in 31st.

Saturday's race at Daytona serves as the Cup Series regular season finale. Tyler Reddick (+89) and Alex Bowman (+60) enter the race holding the final two provisional playoff spots, but a new winner from below the cut line would bounce whichever driver is lower in points out of the postseason field.

The Coke Zero Sugar 400 will go green shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, with coverage on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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