Only Six Drivers Have Reason To Feel Nervous at Daytona 500 Qualifying

By ESPN

Only six drivers have a reason to feel especially nervous Thursday night in the 150-mile Daytona 500 qualifying races.

That's the front row and the four drivers who don't know whether they will have a row at all to start the race.

Chase Elliott will start the Daytona 500 from the pole and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join him on the front row -- as long as they don't wreck their cars Thursday, where they will start from the pole in their respective 60-lap races at Daytona International Speedway. Because they established their starting position in the single-car qualifying Sunday, they would have to fall to the rear of the field if they have to go to backup cars for the 500.

Earnhardt, though, insists he won't worry about having to go to a backup. He needs to see how well his car handles in the pack, and there's a new element this year -- the top 10 in each of the duels earn regular-season points on a 10-to-1 scale. No "playoff points" are available to the winner.

"We've got good cars," Earnhardt said. "[We've got] good backups. ... With the points on the line, we're going to race, try to win, so we'll get an opportunity to see how the balance is working there."

Elliott's directions from his crew chief are similar. The Hendrick Motorsports organization has had issues with the balance of its cars at restrictor-plate races over the past year.

"If you're going out there and you're in a pack and your car is not driving well, there's an opportunity to crash, but I'd much rather find that out early than I would during the [Daytona 500]," Elliott crew chief Alan Gustafson said. "Obviously even if you have to go to a backup car and we'd have to go to the back or whatever would happen, it's still a better alternative than that happening during the Daytona 500."

In addition to Earnhardt and Elliott, the remaining 34 drivers whose car owners have charters know they are in the Daytona 500 and they will start that race depending on where they finish Thursday night. The first duel sets the inside rows for the Daytona 500, and the second duel sets the outside rows.

Tommy Baldwin Racing's Elliott Sadler and Beard Motorsports' Brendan Gaughan are in the Daytona 500. Sadler and Gaughan can breathe easy and here's why: The top noncharter team in each of the two qualifying races earns a spot on the Daytona 500 grid. The final two spots go to the remaining drivers who were best in qualifying Sunday. Gaughan was fastest among those noncharter teams, and Sadler was second, meaning they can fall back on their time.

They most likely will fall back on their time. Neither plans to race all that hard Thursday.

"We brought one car," Sadler said. "We don't feel like to push the issue Thursday. ... We're just focused on getting through the race Thursday, practice really hard Saturday and hope we have a good [car]."

Gaughan, Reed Sorenson and Corey LaJoie are the three noncharter drivers in the first duel; Sadler, D.J. Kennington and Timmy Hill are the three in the second.

If Gaughan or Sadler earns the top noncharter spot in their races, Sorenson gets in on speed; if both are the best in their duels, then Sorenson and Kennington get in on speed. LaJoie and Hill must be the top noncharter drivers in their duels to make it into the Daytona 500. LaJoie likely will get help from his BK Racing teammate Joey Gase in his duel.

If for some reason, the duels are rained out, Sorenson and Kennington get in the race as the cars will line up by qualifying results.