Assuming that you ’re a baseball game fan , if you had the choice between attending a Tuesday night Red Sox game against the Baltimore Orioles or learn the Chicago Cubs play in secret plan seven of the World Series at Fenway Park against the Yankees , which game would you chose ? You ’d opt The World Series , of course ; however , what if you could have that same level of hullabaloo on the first day of the time of year ? Some rooter may not be ready for adrenaline - packed excitement like that correctly out of the logic gate , but NASCAR devotee are used to it .
Every year , the NASCAR season opens up with a bang . Forty - three of the world ’s groovy stock car driver race simple column inch apart in what can be described as a 200 miles per hour ( 322 klick / h ) dealings mess known as the Daytona 500 . Drivers lay it all on the strain for a chance to run at Daytona . Up until 2005 , those 43 blot were up for snap when the team and haulier pulled into Daytona each February . However , since 2005 , NASCAR has guaranteed the top 35 teams – based on the owner ’s point standings from the previous yr – a starting lieu in the subspecies . Now , more than ever , the insistence to measure up for the Daytona 500 is a year - farsighted struggle for some teams . What makes things even more madden is the singular qualifying format for the Daytona 500 . This clause will explicate exactly how the 43 - car subject is set for each Daytona 500 .
Before we can delve into qualifying for the big airstream , let ’s start by learning more about the Daytona cut in the next section .
Daytona International Speedway: The World Center of Racing
Located a mere two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean in Daytona Beach , Fla. , Daytona International Speedway is a 2.5 - mile trioval race track positioned on 480 acres of place that includes a 29 - acre lake ( Lake Lloyd ) and a road course configuration . Daytona is have by the France family , the same household that founded NASCAR . Each yr , Daytona International Speedway is the site of a diverseness of races let in the Grand American Road Racing Association ’s Rolex 24 at Daytona , The American Motorcycle Association Daytona 200 and five NASCAR subspecies include the Coke Zero 400 during the Independence Day weekend . Because of this diverseness , Daytona has been dubbed the " World Center of Racing . " With a rightful year - round racing schedule , Daytona is one of the only track that can boast so many unlike physique of racing .
Daytona is asuperspeedway– any track over two miles ( 3.2 kilometre ) in duration ( excluding route courses ) and have high - banked turns – that can invest 168,000 race fan . On theNASCAR schedule , Sprint Cup , Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide Series car race on two superspeedways with Talladega being the other example . At 2.5 miles ( 4.02 kilometer ) long , Daytona is 2d in length only to Talladega which is 2.66 mil ( 4.3 kilometers ) long . countenance ’s take a quick look at Daytona ’s vital statistic :
[source : Daytona International Speedway ]
Thirty - one degrees of banking is moderately steep . To get an musical theme of the slant , the top of the racetrack near the outside wall is more than 35 feet ( 10.7 meters ) above the baseball diamond – that ’s higher than the roof of a distinctive two - story firm . As a result of the utmost banking in the corner and the length of the track , stock car can locomote at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour ( 322 km / h ) . While those speeds are comparatively dependable for a car with an utmost amount of downforce such as a Grand - Am sports elevator car or an Indy cable car , stock carshave a tendency to lift off the ground when they repeal direction at gamy speeds , as in the case of a twisting . Because of the instability at such high speeds , NASCAR gives each team a carburetorrestrictor plateto cut - down the H.P. from more than 700 to around 450 . This deoxidise the top speed of the car considerably . Obviously , this is why you may hear Daytona refer to as a restrictor - plate raceway .
NASCAR driver seem to universally agree that parentage gondola racing and Daytona International Speedway go script in helping hand . The original Daytona data track can be hunt back to the 1950s where the cars used the hard - packed guts of the Daytona shoreline as the original racing aerofoil . Those days are long gone , yet the spirit of NASCAR rest in Daytona . Two metre a year , NASCAR ’s top racing series visit the hallowed race course . The first visit is for the race that defines NASCAR – the Daytona 500 .
Up next , discover out why the Daytona 500 mean so much to NASCAR fans and driver and why qualifying is so authoritative .
The Daytona 500: The Great American Race
In each form of major motorsports , one wash define calling and turns drivers into legend . Formula 1 has the Grand Prix of Monaco . Sports gondola driver pay homage to the 24 Hours of LeMans and the recently reunified Indy Racing League showcases the Indianapolis 500 as its marquee effect . In American stock car racing , the race that create legends is the Daytona 500 .
The Daytona 500 is not only considered the Holy Grail instock carracing , but it ’s also considered to be the most democratic race in America . Consequently , the Daytona 500 , or simply The 500 as it is known by NASCAR fans , is sometimes refer to as the Great American Race . The Daytona 500 is unique in many ways . For one , the race is in the first of the NASCAR season . That may sound odd and begs the interrogative sentence , " Why would NASCAR curb its largest and most prestigious race as its first result ? " Well , the truth is that nobody really knows . What is sure though is the amount of ostentation andmoneythe Daytona 500 draw .
The share for 2008 ’s winner – in this case , gadget driver Ryan Newman – was more than $ 1.5 million . In the same slipstream , equipment driver Kenny Wallace run down in an telling $ 256,735 for his last place finish . The race routinely draw and quarter renown from across the nation and even U.S. chairman . consider the enormity of the subspecies , it ’s no admiration the Daytona 500 is the one race every NASCAR gadget driver aspire to win .
Over time , racing technology has advanced resulting in increase speeds . In 1987 , driver Bill Elliott shattered the track condition record with a swiftness of 210.364 mph ( 338.548 kilometer / h ) , propel NASCAR to follow through the earlier - mentioned restrictor plate . Since then , the speeds have occur down substantially .
The other impact of restrictor shell racing isdrafting . Draftingis the term for two or more cars running nearly in a argumentation . The selective service , as it is ordinarily called , is when the lead car plug a hole in the air and the drop back cars share each other ’s aerodynamics . In core , four car drafting together are similar to one long motorcar broadcast the air amongst them . drawing works well when cars are driven in packs , so a car drive outdoors of the pack at Daytona and Talladega is always much slower . As a resultant of the efficiency of drawing , qualify usually does n’t matter as much at a restrictor collection plate track – during a race , a skilled driver with a well - tuned railcar can force from the hind end of the field to the front of the battalion in a matter of just a few laps .
Preparation start months before cars even slay the speedway for restrict . NASCAR teams spend countless hours building , tuning and testing the railway car they lend to Daytona . When the teams feel sure-footed that they have the fastest car possible , they head to Florida for two weeks of intense rivalry .
have ’s wave into the next section , as we dispatch the runway for Speedweeks .
Speedweeks at Daytona
Speedweeksis the terminal figure give to the two weeks that cover the Daytona 500 . For the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series , Speedweeks begins with single - car practice sessions and finally lead up todraftingpractice and then race practice . Along the way , NASCAR holds a special event called theBudweiser Shootout . The Shootout is a 75 - circuit , non - points race held on the Saturday prior to the Daytona 500 . The driver race for 25 laps , take a 10 - minute break and then head back out onto the path for the final 50 lap .
The Sunday before the subspecies is qualify day and every car on the entry list – at least those cars that have passedNASCAR inspection– pay back a shot at the perch position . Like every other qualifying school term , drivers get an entry , or up - to - speed , circuit and two timed qualifying laps . team often do several unique tricks to the cars to attain every troy ounce of speed they can . Small disc - bracken rotor are installed and the brake pads are pried away from the discs to eliminate all rolled resistance . squad will often use thin - free weight oil in Holy Order to create less friction in the engine . Drivers also do whatever they can , as the typical passing session see cars travel around the top of the track during the first lap then drop to the bottom of the path on the second lap . Because the superspeedways are so big and banked so high , driver can hold the gas astray receptive during their qualifying laps . Driving in the high lane gives the elevator car more initial speeding , but the low line is the shortest distance around . If you were to wrap a piece of Mexican valium around the lower border of the racetrack and another piece of rophy around the top boundary of the cut , and then measure the two pieces of roach side by side , you would detect that the roofy used to mensurate the outer bound would be much longer . Because the centrifugal force is greater the low-toned on the track the car run , the speeds are often fast – that is , if the railway car handles well .
Qualifying speeding are measured in this way :
In this formula , distance is the track length and clip is the vehicle ’s recorded lick time . We have intercourse that one hour match 3,600 moment , and the track length at Daytona International Speedway is 2.5 international nautical mile ( 4.02 klick ) . So , if a driver turns in a lap covering time of 48.62 instant , we have all of the datum that we involve to calculate the mediocre speed for that circuit . Here ’s how it ’s done :
Time= 48.62 seconds
Speed= 2.5 x ( 2025-02-25 ) = 2.5 x 74.0436 = 185.109 mph
Or if you opt to look the average lap speed using metric measurement :
Distance= 4.02 kilometers
Speed= 4.02 x ( 2025-02-23 ) = 4.02 x 74.0436 = 297.655 kilometre / h
As you ’re about to obtain out , laying down a fast qualifying circle does niggling to secure a spot on the starting gridiron . It does n’t count where the number one wood ab initio specify ; what matters is where they finish in the pass race . In a brutal twist , the degraded cars on qualifying Clarence Shepard Day Jr. do n’t always make the Daytona 500 . Are you confused yet ? Not to worry – keep read to realise how NASCAR arrange the field for each Daytona 500 .
Daytona 500 Qualifying: Setting the Grid
Now here ’s where the playfulness commence : Only the two fastest cars on qualifying Clarence Shepard Day Jr. secure a post on the power system . The two libertine are cede the rod position and the extraneous pole position . As we said before , cars that finish in the top 35 in owner ’s points during the premature racing season are also guaranteed a start spot ; however , the position that they will start the backwash in is not determined by qualifying speeds . Those drivers will fight for take up positions that are finally determined by where they finish in one of two 150 - mile ( 60 - lap ) qualifying races called the Gatorade Duels – formerly live as the Twin 125 ’s , in years past .
The odd - numbered qualifiers ( first , tertiary , 5th and so on ) , taking into accounting where they finished the premature year , will start out in the first Gatorade Duel along with the celestial pole sitter ; the even - keep down qualifiers ( second , fourth , sixth and so on ) race in the 2d Gatorade Duel along with the outside perch sitter who will , in this race , start from the pole position . So , with the exception of the first two spots , the commence grid for the Daytona 500 is determined by how the automobile finish in the Gatorade Duels . But that ’s not the final stage of it .
A totality of 66 elevator car can take part in the Gatorade Duels and two cars from each qualifying slipstream will have the chance to run their fashion into the 500 by cease in one of two transportation billet . Positions 3 through 39 are influence from the finishing order of the Gatorade Duel race with the two highest finishers in each raceway – driver not in the top 35 from the premature year – earning start spots in the Daytona 500 . Two more position are filled based on qualifying speed with the terminal spot extend to the most late preceding title-holder . Once all the spot are account for , the part lineup is set free-base on the finish gild of the duel raceway .
So , are you still confused about how NASCAR localize the starting grid of 43 cars ? It ’s not that complex once you see it broken down like this :
As you’re able to see , speed matters ; however , for most driver , racing is what determines starting status in the Daytona 500 . Fittingly , the most prestigious race in NASCAR call for the most from every squad and driver .
For more info about the Daytona 500 , NASCAR and other related subject , watch the connexion on the next page .
