Today is Tuesday, Feb. 17, the 48th day of 2026. There are 317 days left in the year. Today in history: On Feb. 17, 2013, Danica Patrick won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any Sprint Cup race. Also on this date: In 1801, the U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, electing Jefferson president; Burr became vice president.
We've been involved with the business for five years now. It's an incredible brand with lots of legacy and great values, and there's a long-term plan here. That was supported by two things last year: Carlos joining us, who obviously saw the opportunity when it came to wanting to win; and finishing fifth. And that just supported our story of going back to the top.
We had this storied journey where we had to build the team, in a sense, before we had an entry. This project is so complex, even now, walking through the factory, seeing all the things that had to be built. There are some 43,000 parts you're designing your own chassis. It's a big, big task.
In the short term, expectations are brutally realistic, but this is still a team intent on making noise from day one. That intent will be made clear when Cadillac unveils the livery of its first F1 car during a Super Bowl commercial Sunday. Such a move is a statement and arrival aimed as much at mainstream America as at a paddock that, for years, questioned whether the brand belonged on the grid at all.
"I've been fortunate to accomplish more than I ever imagined in this sport," said Johnson, a two-time Daytona 500 champion who finished third in the 2025 season opener. "The last six years have given me the freedom to choose where I compete and, more importantly, the clarity to understand where I'm needed most. I am going to focus all of my energy on leading and building a world class organization."
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.