NASCAR’s Daytona 500 on FOX has a singular qualifying format. It isn’t the best to know.
Including to the sophisticated qualifying procedures is a brand new rule that might add (however does not assure) a forty first automotive to what — lately — has usually been a 40-car discipline.
We’ll attempt to break all the things down right here on how the sphere is about for the Feb. 16 race at Daytona Worldwide Speedway:
— The 36 drivers of chartered vehicles are within the race. This is the checklist of drivers: AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Denny Hamlin, Riley Herbst, Carson Hocevar, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Preece, Tyler Reddick, Zane Smith, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Shane van Gisbergen, Bubba Wallace and Cody Ware.
— The remaining spots are then crammed by the non-chartered open vehicles. With the storage not opening till Wednesday morning, there’s the opportunity of extra entries, however there are 9 open drivers anticipated to enter. This is the checklist of anticipated drivers: Anthony Alfredo, Justin Allgaier, Helio Castroneves, Jimmie Johnson, Corey LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, Chandler Smith, Martin Truex Jr. and JJ Yeley.
The open drivers earn their spots in two methods. They’ll both get in by being the highest-finishing open driver of their qualifying race on Thursday. Or in the event that they don’t advance by their qualifying race, they’ll get in by being one of many top-two open vehicles (not together with those that superior by the qualifying race) in single-car qualifying on Wednesday.
— Castroneves is an open automotive however is locked into the sphere by a brand new rule for 2025 that enables for NASCAR to award a spot to a driver who has elite credentials and would additionally increase the advertising and marketing of the occasion. His Trackhouse Racing workforce was the one one to use earlier than the deadline for this particular provisional, so he was the one one thought-about by NASCAR to obtain it.
However there’s a catch. If he makes use of the provisional, his workforce will get no prize cash for the occasion. So he hopes to qualify his approach in naturally. If he qualifies naturally as an open automotive, then it is going to be a 40-car discipline and 5 open vehicles will miss the race. If he doesn’t qualify naturally and makes use of the provisional, then it is going to be a 41-car discipline and 4 open vehicles will miss the race.
— On Wednesday night time, every of the 45 vehicles will make one qualifying lap with the highest 10 advancing to a second spherical to take one other lap. The drivers who completed first and second within the last spherical will begin on the entrance row for the Daytona 500, with the quickest incomes the pole. The highest-two open drivers from Wednesday night time additionally lock themselves into the Daytona 500 discipline as a result of they’ll all the time fall again on their time in the event that they don’t advance by the races on Thursday night time.
— Two 150-lap races on Thursday night time will decide the beginning lineup, in addition to fill the remaining two spots within the discipline. The 36 constitution groups might be cut up evenly amongst these two races primarily based on their Wednesday night time qualifying pace (the primary race having these first, third, fifth, and so forth, and the second race having these second, fourth, sixth and so forth). The 9 open vehicles might be cut up — 5 within the first race, 4 within the second race — primarily based on their qualifying pace in the identical vogue. All vehicles will line up primarily based on their qualifying pace.
— The highest-finishing open driver in every of the Thursday night time races earns a spot within the Daytona 500 discipline. Of the seven open drivers who then stay, the 2 with the perfect qualifying pace from Wednesday night time additionally make it. If Castroneves isn’t a type of open drivers who earns a spot, he’ll get the forty first and last spot within the discipline (and 4 open drivers will fail to qualify for the race). If he’s a type of 4 drivers, then it is going to be a 40-car discipline (and 5 open drivers will fail to qualify for the race).
— The outcomes of the primary race will decide the within row for Rows 2 by 19 and the outcomes of the second race will decide the surface for Rows 2 by 19. The 2 open drivers who make the race primarily based on qualifying pace will begin in Row 20 (spots 39 and 40). If Castroneves will get in with the provisional, he would begin forty first.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports activities. He has spent a long time overlaying motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seashore) Information-Journal. Observe him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Get extra from NASCAR Cup Sequence Observe your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra
