What should have been a revamp for the Daytona 500, Hendrick Motorsports may well have cost the front row for NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl.
Alex Bowman and William Byron were said to lead the Daytona 500 field to green, but that’s in jeopardy after Thursday night’s qualifying races. Bowman had an engine problem in the first 150-mile race and if his engine has to be replaced, he will lose pole on Sunday.
Aric Almirola (10) beats Christopher Bell (20), Ryan Newman (6) and Joey Logano (22) to the finish to win the first NASCAR Daytona 500 duel qualifying race.
(AP Photo / Chris O’Meara)
Byron was collected in a crash in the second Duel and it ruined his Chevrolet. He has to move to a spare car for the 500 and the exchange sends him to the back of the field.
“Too bad,” Byron said. “Man, the thing was fast.”
Aric Almirola won the first race. After a rain delay pushed the second Duel to a finish on Friday morning, Austin Dillon used a crossover on Bubba Wallace to beat Wallace to the checkered flag.
Almirola in a Ford is scheduled to start behind Byron, but will slide to the front row if Byron falls back. Dillon in a Chevrolet is waiting to see if Hendrick changes Bowman’s engine this weekend.
Austin Cindric and Kaz Grala both earned their first places in the Daytona 500 by claiming the two available transfer positions in the Duels. Ty Dillon, Timmy Hill, Garrett Smithley and Noah Gragson all got stuck.
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Smithley and Gragson competed for the transfer spot in the second race when Smithley tried to dive around Gragson. Brad Keselowski on his outside did not expect Smithley to fill the gap and the two collided, creating a wreck that knocked out both Smithley and Gragson.
Byron also got into that crash.
Bowman felt a problem with his engine and instead of pushing it too far, he drove to the pit lane on race one to give his No. 48 crew a chance to save his pole-winning run.
“I don’t want to keep doing it,” Bowman said over the radio.
The team got its car back on track, but has to decide whether to replace the engine preventively or gamble, which in the car can now cover the distance on Sunday. Winning 500 pole is prestigious, but the actual starting position matters little in a 500 mile race at Daytona.
“I feel we have understood correctly and hopefully we will be able to diagnose and make sure everything is okay,” said crew chief Greg Ives of the upcoming work.
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Meanwhile, in his debut for Michael Jordan’s new 23XI Racing team, Wallace flirted with his first win in a cup car. He was the leader on the last lap of the second Duel, until Dillon crossed the inside of Wallace and led the way.
Wallace tried to hold it tight, but wobbled after hitting doors with Dillon.
“Good debut, but nothing to be really happy about,” said Wallace. “It’s okay for drivers to be hard on themselves – that’s how we motivate ourselves. I know I still have a lot to learn here.”
Cindric and Grala both reached their first Daytona 500 via NASCAR’s quirky qualifying for the biggest race of the year. The race had 48 participants for 40 slots, but all but four are claimed by teams with guaranteed participation.
It netted eight drivers for four places, two of which were awarded to David Ragan and Ryan Preece in Wednesday’s time trials. The other two places were open to the highest finishing “open” cars in each Duel – unless Ragan or Preece was the highest finisher.
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Preece passed Ty Dillon in the last part of race one and although Dillon finished sixth out of 22 cars, the transfer spot fell back to Cindric based on his qualifying pace from the day before.
“Some days it’s your day, I guess,” Cindric said, finding Dillon on the pit road and shaking his hand after the finish.
Grala’s transfer was similar as Ragan was the highest completed open car in the second Duel, and Smithley and Gragson were part of the wreckage Byron collected.
Almirola won his first race at Speedweeks and the Tampa Bay resident commented that it was a good week; The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, and Almirola thinks he has a shot at winning the NASCAR version of the Super Bowl.
“This thing was a hot rod. Our race car is so fast,” said Almirola. “We have an incredible race car and I can’t wait for the Daytona 500.”
The Daytona 500 is scheduled to launch at 2:30 p.m. EST on Fox
Here is the preliminary starting grid for the race:
1. Alex Bowman No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports
2. William Byron No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports
3.Aric Almirola No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
4. Austin Dillon No. 3 Richard Childress Racing
5. Christopher Bell No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
6.Bubba Wallace No. 23 23XI Racing
7.Ryan Newman No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing
8. Kevin Harvick No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
9. Joey Logano No. 22 Team Penske
10. Kyle Busch No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
11.Ryan Preece * No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing *
12. Chase Elliott No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports
13. Kyle Larson No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports
14. Ryan Blaney No. 12 Team Penske
15. Daniel Suarez No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team
16. Corey LaJoie No. 7 Spire Motorsports
17. Michael McDowell No. 34 Front Row Motorsports
18. David Ragan * No. 36 front row motorsport *
19. Jamie McMurray # 77 Spire Motorsports
20. Kurt Busch No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
22 Chris Buescher No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing
23 Matt DiBenedetto No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing
24 Brad Keselowski No. 2 Team Penske
25 Denny Hamlin No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
26 Martin Truex Jr. No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
27 Cole Custer No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
28 Joey Gase No. 53 Rick Ware Racing
29. Tyler Reddick No. 8 Richard Childress Racing
30. Chase Briscoe No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
31 Erik Jones No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
32 Derrike Cope No. 15 Rick Ware Racing
33. Quin Houff No. 00 StarCom Racing
34. Ross Chastain No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
35.Cody Ware No. 51 Rick Ware Racing
36. Anthony Alfredo No. 38 Front Row Motorsports
37. Josh Bilicki No. 52 Rick Ware Racing
38.BJ McLeod No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports
39 Austin Cindric * No. 33 Team Penske
40. Kaz Grala * No. 16 Kaulig Racing