How NASCAR will set the Starting Grid
By Kent Whitaker:
One of the hardest things to explain to people when it comes to the Daytona 500 is how the people at NASCAR determine the starting grid. The method for setting the starting lineup for every other “points” race in the season is tossed to the curb when it comes to the Great American Race. The only reason that I can see for doing this is more television time… which is a win for me as well as other fans!
As my wife tells me… if it takes thirty minutes to explain what the rules are for the NASCAR All-Star race will be then she’s probably going to watch something else. I figured that the same rule would apply when trying to explain Daytona 500 qualifying. Here’s How NASCAR will set the Starting Grid for the 2017 Daytona 500.
The Long Version
The Front Row: The pole sitter and the number two qualifier will be determined during Single-Car qualifying which is set for Sunday February, 19. You can watch that on FOX. The qualifying will take place over two rounds.
After Round one the fastest twelve cars will move to round two of qualifying. Those remaining twelve drivers will make another round of runs with the goal of being one of the fastest two. The cars for this round make their runs from slowest, in the previous round, going first and the then on to the fastest.
Everything will be like normal… except that after all the cars on the entry list make their runs, and after round two, only two cars will have a starting position. The pole winner, aka the Coors Light Pole Award winner, and the second fastest car are both in! Everybody else, including the other ten fastest cars from the second round, must wait for the next qualifying step.
36 cars from the Can-Am Duels: – Here’s the next step for qualifying order which comes in the form of the Can-Am Duels. You can watch these two mini races on FS1 is Thursday evening, February 23. The two races will feature split fields with the Pole winner starting Duel one and the other driver on the front row leading Duel two.
The duels are broken up by their speeds set during qualifying from fastest to slowest. In addition – the cars with odd number finishes head to Duel one, even numbered finishers go to Duel two.
The finishing order of the duels will determine Daytona 500 starting spots of 36 additional cars. The math adds up like this; 2 cars plus 36 cars equals 38 cars set. That means there are two starting positions still open.
Two Cars Left!: This is probably the easiest part of the math! The last two spots are filled with the fastest remaining “open” cars that did not qualify from racing their way in during the duals.
The Short Version: I Hope that makes sense! Now, here’s the short version. Two cars on the front set by qualifying, 36 cars set by the duels, two more “open” cars fill the last two spots. 2+36+2=40. I don’t look at this as over-kill when it comes to setting a starting grid. I look at this as more opportunities to tailgate and fire up the grill! Oh, by the way – the 2017 Daytona 500 is set for Sunday, February 26. Coverage is on FOX starting at 2pm Eastern Time. Radio Coverage is via MRN.
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“Kent Whitaker, often called ‘the Deck Chef’ is a sportswriter, culinary writer, and cookbook author with fourteen titles. He covers NASCAR, racing in general, Football, barbecue, grilling, and tailgating. You can visit him on
www.thedeckchef.com .”
