Can-Am Duel Qualifying Races a Letdown

Thursday night's Can-Am Duel qualifying races, the Artists Formerly Known as the Duel 150s, were destined to be a letdown. NASCAR's new charter ownership system, documents that are still fresh off the lawyer's printer, meant that 36 of the 40 starting spots for Sunday's Daytona 500 were already locked up. Pole qualifying had locked up two more slots on the grid.

So, when the green flag flew over the pair of 22-car, 60-lap races Thursday, each event had only one starting spot to hand out, raced for between a whopping three drivers.

It was a far cry from the qualifying doubleheaders of the past. Decades ago, dozens of cars missed the cut, racing furiously to the finish of the then 125-mile races. In recent years, the norm had become eight to 10 cars fighting for four spots in the field. Those still on the bubble after the first race couldn't relax until the second had ended, with so many would-be qualifiers spread out through both fields.

So, there was no drama Thursday night, right? No tension, right? An easy-going, cliffhanger-free evening at the World Center of Racing. Moments before the green flag, thinking about my annual go-to Duels strategy of hanging out with the pacing, panicked bubble teams during the second race, I turned to my editor and said, "This will be a breeze tonight, won't it?"

That was easy for us to say.

"Oh no, this was way more tense tonight," said Michael McDowell, who finished 14th in Duel No. 1 to earn that race's lone Sunday starting spot. It was the third time in seven years that McDowell, driving for Circle Sport/Leavine Family Racing, had to race his way into the Daytona 500 field. So, he's a bit of an expert on the subject. His status was in doubt when he could barely broach the subject because his smile was too big.

"In the past, it might have seemed crazier to you, but when it's complicated like that, that means there are a lot of possible scenarios," he said. "Tonight, the goal was simple: Beat the 30 [Josh Wise] and the 98 [Cole Whitt], but the margin of error on that was zero. That was nerve-racking."