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There’s no need to hype this year’s version of Daytona Speedweeks. The drama is already built in and it will have ramifications that will last all season long.
Although as of this writing NASCAR has not released a Daytona 500 entry list, it is expected that somewhere between 55 and 60 cars will attempt to qualify for this year’s Daytona 500, with 35 cars guaranteed starting spots based on 2006 owners’ points. That means somewhere between 20 and 25 cars will be battling for the remaining eight spots in the field.
Daytona 500 qualifying is far and away the most complicated of any Nextel Cup race. Here’s how it works: Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 is Sunday, Feb. 11. All the cars entered in the 500 will take two laps around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway tri-oval in an attempt to win the pole for the race on Feb. 18. But unlike a traditional Nextel Cup race, Daytona 500 qualifying only sets the top two positions.
Positions 3-39 will go to the top 35 in 2006 owner points and the two highest finishers in each of the Daytona Duel 150 qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 15. Positions 40-42 in the Daytona 500 field will go to the fastest qualifiers who don’t make it in via the Duels, while the 43rd and final position is reserved for either a past champion, or the next fastest qualifier.
SPEED will offer special “Duels Day” coverage on Feb. 15 from Daytona Speedweeks, as the network hosts the qualifying races for the first time. Opening the broadcast day at 11 a.m. EST with “NASCAR Live!”, SPEED will offer 14 hours of programming from Daytona, including live coverage of races at 2 p.m. Dave Despain will host SPEED’s coverage of the Duel 150s, with Mike Joy offering play-by-play and Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond providing analysis. Pit reporters will include Steve Byrnes, Dick Berggren, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum.
As far as the fields for the Duels, they are split as follows: The Daytona 500 pole-sitter will start on the pole of the first qualifying race, with the second-fastest qualifier starting on the pole of the second qualifying race. Cars that finished in odd positions (first, third, fifth, etc.) in 2006 owner's points last season will be in the first qualifying race, and those with even-number finishes will compete in the second race. The lineup for each qualifying race will be set based on the qualifying speeds.
Cars outside the top 35 in owner points will be alternately entered into the two 150-mile qualifying events based on qualifying speeds.
Confused?
The important thing to remember is this: Somewhere between 20 and 25 cars will be racing for eight spots in the Daytona 500 field. And there are some darn good drivers and teams who don’t have guaranteed spots in the 500: Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton, Mike Bliss, Kenny Wallace, Joe Nemechek, Paul Menard, Jeremy Mayfield, Michael Waltrip, Johnny Sauter, Brian Vickers, A.J. Allmendinger, Mike Skinner, Bill Elliott, Kevin Lepage and a host of others.
Without question, some big names will be home watching the Daytona 500. And those who miss the 500 will have their work cut out for them the rest of the year. For the first five races this year, the teams guaranteed a starting spot each weekend are those who finished in the top 35 in owner points last year.
Beginning with race No. 6 — April 1 at Martinsville — the guaranteed spots will go to the top 35 cars in 2007 owner points. So if a driver misses the Daytona 500, he’ll be trying to crack the top 35 based on his results in four races, while most of the other teams competed in five races.
The bottom line: Look for some aggressive and perhaps desperate racing in the Duels this year, because drivers not in the top 35 in owner points can’t afford to miss the Daytona 500. As is always the case at a restrictor-plate track, absolutely anything can happen. One guy could make a mistake and cause a 15-car pile-up, and all of a sudden a handful of good drivers in good cars miss the Daytona 500 and get the season off to a rotten start to boot.
It ought to make for a tense and compelling couple of races and the expected size of the field just means that much more pressure for the teams. It will be an especially tense baptism under fire for Toyota’s maiden voyage into the Nextel Cup series. It is expected that the automaker will field eight of its new Camrys among three teams: Bill Davis Racing (Mayfield, Dave Blaney and Skinner), Team Red Bull (Vickers and Allmendinger) and Michael Waltrip Racing (Reutimann, Waltrip and Dale Jarrett). Of those eight, only Blaney and Jarrett are already locked into the Daytona 500, Blaney on owner points, Jarrett as a past champ.
Add the presence of former F-1 star Juan Pablo Montoya and the usual number of off-season personnel moves, and it ought to be the most fascinating Speedweeks in years. See you in Daytona!
Although as of this writing NASCAR has not released a Daytona 500 entry list, it is expected that somewhere between 55 and 60 cars will attempt to qualify for this year’s Daytona 500, with 35 cars guaranteed starting spots based on 2006 owners’ points. That means somewhere between 20 and 25 cars will be battling for the remaining eight spots in the field.
Daytona 500 qualifying is far and away the most complicated of any Nextel Cup race. Here’s how it works: Pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 is Sunday, Feb. 11. All the cars entered in the 500 will take two laps around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway tri-oval in an attempt to win the pole for the race on Feb. 18. But unlike a traditional Nextel Cup race, Daytona 500 qualifying only sets the top two positions.
Positions 3-39 will go to the top 35 in 2006 owner points and the two highest finishers in each of the Daytona Duel 150 qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 15. Positions 40-42 in the Daytona 500 field will go to the fastest qualifiers who don’t make it in via the Duels, while the 43rd and final position is reserved for either a past champion, or the next fastest qualifier.
SPEED will offer special “Duels Day” coverage on Feb. 15 from Daytona Speedweeks, as the network hosts the qualifying races for the first time. Opening the broadcast day at 11 a.m. EST with “NASCAR Live!”, SPEED will offer 14 hours of programming from Daytona, including live coverage of races at 2 p.m. Dave Despain will host SPEED’s coverage of the Duel 150s, with Mike Joy offering play-by-play and Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond providing analysis. Pit reporters will include Steve Byrnes, Dick Berggren, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum.
As far as the fields for the Duels, they are split as follows: The Daytona 500 pole-sitter will start on the pole of the first qualifying race, with the second-fastest qualifier starting on the pole of the second qualifying race. Cars that finished in odd positions (first, third, fifth, etc.) in 2006 owner's points last season will be in the first qualifying race, and those with even-number finishes will compete in the second race. The lineup for each qualifying race will be set based on the qualifying speeds.
Cars outside the top 35 in owner points will be alternately entered into the two 150-mile qualifying events based on qualifying speeds.
Confused?
The important thing to remember is this: Somewhere between 20 and 25 cars will be racing for eight spots in the Daytona 500 field. And there are some darn good drivers and teams who don’t have guaranteed spots in the 500: Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton, Mike Bliss, Kenny Wallace, Joe Nemechek, Paul Menard, Jeremy Mayfield, Michael Waltrip, Johnny Sauter, Brian Vickers, A.J. Allmendinger, Mike Skinner, Bill Elliott, Kevin Lepage and a host of others.
Without question, some big names will be home watching the Daytona 500. And those who miss the 500 will have their work cut out for them the rest of the year. For the first five races this year, the teams guaranteed a starting spot each weekend are those who finished in the top 35 in owner points last year.
Beginning with race No. 6 — April 1 at Martinsville — the guaranteed spots will go to the top 35 cars in 2007 owner points. So if a driver misses the Daytona 500, he’ll be trying to crack the top 35 based on his results in four races, while most of the other teams competed in five races.
The bottom line: Look for some aggressive and perhaps desperate racing in the Duels this year, because drivers not in the top 35 in owner points can’t afford to miss the Daytona 500. As is always the case at a restrictor-plate track, absolutely anything can happen. One guy could make a mistake and cause a 15-car pile-up, and all of a sudden a handful of good drivers in good cars miss the Daytona 500 and get the season off to a rotten start to boot.
It ought to make for a tense and compelling couple of races and the expected size of the field just means that much more pressure for the teams. It will be an especially tense baptism under fire for Toyota’s maiden voyage into the Nextel Cup series. It is expected that the automaker will field eight of its new Camrys among three teams: Bill Davis Racing (Mayfield, Dave Blaney and Skinner), Team Red Bull (Vickers and Allmendinger) and Michael Waltrip Racing (Reutimann, Waltrip and Dale Jarrett). Of those eight, only Blaney and Jarrett are already locked into the Daytona 500, Blaney on owner points, Jarrett as a past champ.
Add the presence of former F-1 star Juan Pablo Montoya and the usual number of off-season personnel moves, and it ought to be the most fascinating Speedweeks in years. See you in Daytona!
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