Kyle Busch, 0-for-20 all time in Daytona 500, captures pole - ESPN

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch won the pole for NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500 to give the driver with the longest active losing streak in «The Great American Race» a shot at the victory that has escaped him his entire career.

Busch is 0-for-20 in the Daytona 500 and hasn't started in the top five since 2016, when he still drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. He started fourth and finished third that year, then was a career-best second to then-teammate Denny Hamlin in 2019.

«Kyle, we've got to get him this 500,» said team owner Richard Childress.

«Sounds really good right now — being able to qualify on my first pole for the Daytona 500, that's pretty special,» said Busch, who wore custom-designed Olympic-themed racing shoes at Daytona International Speedway.

He earned the pole Wednesday night with a lap at 183.925 mph in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, the team that signed him before the 2023 season when his contract was up with Gibbs and his salary was too high for most teams.

But his time in the No. 8 has been rocky for the two-time NASCAR champion. He has won three races since joining RCR — all in his first season — and takes a 93-race losing streak into the Daytona 500.

His pole runs continues a strong few weeks for Busch and his family: Older brother, Kurt, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last month.

«Feels really good for RCR as a group,» Busch said. «Just a valiant effort by everybody here. It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night.»

RCR last put a car on the pole for the Daytona 500 in 2014 when Austin Dillon, grandson of owner Richard Childress Racing, qualified first. Dillon won the race in 2018.

Chase Briscoe, last year's pole-sitter,