Often called the Super Bowl of NASCAR, the Daytona 500 kicks off the season for the Cup Series. Besides being one of the biggest races of the year, qualifying for the 500 is like no other race.
Throughout the season, the drivers either take to the track one at a time to make their best laps to set the field or in some cases like road course racing, the drivers make a group qualifying run where they have a specific amount of time to make their best laps.
But, when it comes to the Daytona 500, all of the drivers in the field make a single car qualifying run but only the front row is set.
The remainder of the field will be divided into two groups based on how they ran in the qualifying run and will be placed in one of two Duel races. The finishing order in Duel number one sets the inside row with the results from Duel number two setting the outside row.
The 36 chartered teams are guaranteed a starting spot; leaving four “open” spots. Last year NASCAR created a possible 41st starting spot with the Open Exemption Provisional for a world class driver to enter the field. Seven time Cup Series champion and Legacy Motor Club co-owner Jimmie Johnson is using to run the race this year.
There are eight drivers vying for one of the four open spots – Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Corey Heim, Corey LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, Casey Mears, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley.
Daytona Speedweek kicks off on Wednesday night with single car qualifying. Thursday night are the Duel races – a 60 lap, 150 mile shootout to set the field.
This year the top 10 drivers in each Duel will earn points with the winners earning 10 points each, descending down to the 10th place driver earning just one point.
Friday night the Craftsman Truck Series kicks off their season with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series getting started on Saturday.
And it all comes down to the big race on Sunday afternoon with the Daytona 500!