Bubba Wallace asserted himself as one of the favorites to win Sunday’s Daytona 500 after taking the victory Thursday night in his qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway, which sets the starting lineup for NASCAR’s marquee race.

After racing at the front for the majority of the 150-mile qualifier, Wallace took control with three laps remaining. The decisive moment came on the final lap when second-place Ty Dillon attempted to pass Wallace, but Dillon misjudged the closing rate of AJ Allmendinger to his outside and clipped Allmendinger’s car, sending Dillon into the wall.

No one else could then mount any kind of serious charge, with Wallace firmly holding the lead to win the race. William Byron finished second, followed by Dillon, Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick, Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate.

“To finally get a (qualifier) win, I hope it’s the right stepping stone for accomplishing Sunday,” Wallace said. “I thought it was pretty cool just seeing how well (his team and Reddick’s team) worked together and moving to that top lane forward together the whole night. That was really, really special. All in all a good night for the team.”

The win puts Wallace in the third starting spot behind Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric for the Daytona 500, a race Wallace has never won but twice finished runner-up.

Wallace owns two official Cup wins, his last coming in September 2022 at Kansas Speedway. On top of missing the playoffs last season, Wallace came into this season committed to improving his performance to match that of Reddick, who won three times last year and advanced to the Championship 4 playoff finale.

“We’re here. I got a team that believes in me, and I have justas much faith in this team to take it to new heights,” Wallace said. “Honestly, seeing what Tyler (Reddick) was able to do with his team and the (No.) 45 group last year going all the way to the Final Four at Phoenix, there’s no reason why we can’t do the same. It all starts right here tonight.”