What It Takes To Make The Daytona 500

Column By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR – DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Christmas comes but once a year. The same is true of the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500.

Unlike Christmas, however, the setting and ordering of the field for the Great American Race takes five days, from single-car qualifying on Sunday through the Can-Am Duel at Daytona twin 150-mile races on Thursday.

The basics are straightforward. Only two cars in Sunday’s time trails are locked into their starting positions for the Daytona 500—the pole winner and the car that qualifies on the outside of the front row.

Of the 42 entries for the race, 36 hold Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series charters and are guaranteed to compete on Feb. 26. That leaves six drivers fighting for the four remaining positions in the 500. Those drivers are Elliott Sadler, Timmy Hill, Reed Sorenson, Brendan Gaughan, Corey LaJoie and DJ Kennington.

Qualifying on Sunday sets the starting order for the Can-Am Duel races on Thursday, with the odd-number qualifiers (positions 1-3-5, etc.) running the first Duel, and even numbers competing in the second Duel.

The finishing positions in the Thursday races determine the starting positions for the 500, with the exception of the front row. The winner of the first Duel, which forms the inside row, starts third in the Great American Race, with the winner of the second Duel starting fourth, on the outside of the second row.

If either of the front row starters wins a Duel, then the second-row position goes to second place finisher in that particular Duel.

Open drivers, those competing without charters, have two avenues into the 500. The highest-finishing driver in each of the Can-Am Duels earns a starting position on Feb. 26. The final two positions go to the two fastest among the open drivers in Sunday’s time trials, if not already qualified through the Duels.

Aside from determining who’s fastest in single-car runs, this year’s qualifying session will provide several story lines of keen interest to NASCAR fans.

DALE EARNHARDT JR. RETURNS TO THE NO. 88
Dale Earnhardt Jr., a two-time Daytona 500 winner, returns to action after missing the final 18 events of 2016 while recovering from a concussion. Earnhardt was 11th fastest in the 3 hour, 55 minute practice session on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s good to be doing some laps, good to be doing some work,” Earnhardt said. “Car seems to be doing all right. Hard to tell where you line up against these guys. They’re all doing something different, running different laps, more lines, stuff like that.

“Hopefully, we’re going to get out there tomorrow and have a shot at the pole. We’d love to get on the front row, take a little pressure off of us. The qualifying races and all that stuff. Yeah, it’s been great. Great weather, really cool and comfortable. Like I say, there’s been no problems with the car so far. It’s been smooth.”

FORD LOOKS FAST IN OPENING DAYTONA 500 PRACTICE
Clint Bowyer, who is back in a competitive car at Stewart-Haas Racing, was 10th fastest on Saturday. With SHR switching to Ford from Chevrolet this season, the Ford armada has grown substantially, potentially to the point of challenging the Toyota gang that dominated Speedweeks last year.

In fact, Fords posted the two fastest times in Saturday’s marathon practice session, with Joey Logano (193.116 mph), Aric Almirola (193.054 mph) and Brad Keselowski (193.046 mph) topping the speed chart.

“In all honesty, I’ve never been that fast in qualifying here in Daytona in my whole career,” Logano said after the session. “I feel like I’ve never had a shot at it, but now I feel like I’m closer than ever.

“I feel like I’m kind of in new territory, plus I think some of these other guys sandbag a lot, so tomorrow will be the telltale sign.”