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COUNTDOWN TO DAYTONA: SETTING THE "500" FIELD

Most non-impound NASCAR Sprint Cup weekends follow an orderly and predictable pattern: 90 minutes to a couple hours of practice, followed by qualifying, more practice and the race on Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon, depending on schedule.

Things aren’t quite that simple for the Feb. 14 Daytona 500, the first race of the 2010 Sprint Cup season and the biggest event of the entire year.

This year, the action starts with Daytona 500 pole qualifying on Saturday, Feb. 6. In every other Sprint Cup race, qualifying sets the entire 43-car starting grid.

Not so each February at the storied 2.5-mile superspeedway, where qualifying determines only the front row for the Daytona 500. The remaining 41 positions are set in the two Gatorade Duel at Daytona 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 11.

The fastest car during qualifying claims the pole for the Daytona 500 and the pole for the first Gatorade Duel. The second-fastest car earns the outside front-row spot for the Daytona 500 and the pole for the second Gatorade Duel.

Odd-number finishers in the final 2009 Sprint Cup car owner point standings (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) compete in the first Gatorade Duel race. Even-number finishers in the final 2009 Sprint Cup car owner point standings compete in the second Gatorade Duel race.

Finishing order in the Duels determines positions 3-39 for the Daytona 500, and cars must compete in one of the Duels in order to race in the Daytona 500.

The top 35 in 2009 owner points are guaranteed to make the Daytona 500, regardless of where they finish in the Duels. And in each Duel, the two top finishing cars not in the top 35 in owner points will advance to the Daytona 500.

The final four spots in the 43-car field are based on pole day qualifying speeds of cars that have not already earned a starting position. The 43rd position may be reserved for a past Sprint Cup champion who hasn’t otherwise qualified for the race. If there is more than one past champion eligible for this spot, it goes to the most recent champion.

Given the nature of restrictor-plate racing, where it’s relatively easy to pass and advance from the back of the field, the Daytona qualifying process sets up two classes: Those locked into the race, and those not locked in.

For the guys guaranteed a starting spot, qualifying up front is nice, but it’s hardly a necessity.

Last year, for example Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch qualified 15th for the Daytona 500, yet easily won his Gatorade Duel, one of three Toyota Camrys in the top five in that race. Busch went on to lead more than half of the Daytona 500, before getting knocked out in a crash not of his own making. Conversely, race winner Matt Kenseth qualified 39th (See what we mean about being able to advance from the back of the field).

So, for anyone in the top 35 in owner points, capturing the Daytona 500 pole really isn’t really much more than basic bragging rights – a whole week of bragging rights.

“At the end of the day, really, for this race it doesn’t matter a whole lot just because it’s Daytona,” says Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota Camry. “You’re going to go from first to last several times throughout the race and plus we have the Duels.”

But for the guys outside the top 35, the whole qualifying process is a pressure-packed ordeal and a nightmarish one at that.

Typically, each Duel has 27-30 cars entered, 17 to 20 of whom are locked in to the “500” one way or another. That means if you’re outside the top 35 in owner points — one of the so-called “go or go home” cars — you have finish your Duel race ahead of nine or 10 other, non-qualified cars.

“You’ve got to go,” says Joe Nemechek, owner of the No. 87 Nemco Motorsports Toyota Camry, which is one of those cars outside the top 35 in points. “You’ve got to be one of the top-two ‘go-or-go-homers’ to finish the race in the front.”

“Daytona is our Super Bowl,” says Mike Bliss, who this year takes over as the driver of Tommy Baldwin Racing’s No. 36 Wave Energy Drink Toyota Camry, another car that will have to race its way in to the 500 field. “It's the first race of the year, but first we have those qualifying races on Thursday to get us in to it. Thursday is probably one of the worst races of the whole season as far as drivers that have to get into the race.”

Bliss has been there and done that before, and knows what lies ahead.

“I can remember in the years past being in the same situation,” says Bliss. “You’re constantly on the radio asking, ‘Who do we need to beat, where do we need to be,’ with the spotter. There's more of that going on than there is spotting. It's a big chess match. You just don't know if something happens, you're involved in a wreck or something, there goes your whole weekend.”

Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is a big deal. Last year, the teams who raced in the Duels, but didn’t qualify for the 500 made about $21,000 each. The last-place finisher in the 500 pocketed $317,720. Big difference.

“It starts off the year,” Bliss says of Daytona. “I remember starting off good at Daytona, and then the whole year just keeps going from there. There's a lot of pressure on Thursday. Yeah, that's the worst race of the whole year for me.”

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