RaceBud

Restating complex, sometimes technical, information to the media and the public in an understandable way is a common challenge in government public information offices. The spokesman of a state agency I once worked for was always trying to explain muddled public policy to the media the same way he would explain it to his neighbor.

Coincidently, my neighbor, dad of the twins, gave me a review of this site the other day. He says he wants to see more articles about Dale Earnhardt, Jr, the open wheel drivers that are new to NASCAR, and items of interest to the casual NASCAR fan.

So, John, here’s an attempt to explain Daytona qualifying.

It’s a simple 5-step process.

1. Qualifying – Not real sure why it’s called qualifying when it’s just the first of five steps in the process. But, here’s what happens.
   a. Drivers draw numbers to determine the qualifying order…who goes first, second and so on.
   b. Based on their qualifying order, they each run two laps around the track. Only the fastest lap counts. They are given a qualifying position based on their qualifying time, fastest to slowest.
   c. The first and second place drivers are awarded the pole and the outside pole positions for the Daytona 500. All the others are still competing for their place in the starting lineup.
2. Twin 150 races – The drivers participating in the qualifying process now get to race to determine more starting positions. Here’s what happens in the second step.
   a. The cars are divided into two races. The odd-numbered qualifying positions make up the first race, the even-numbered positions make up the second race. They start in the position they earned in the qualifying step.
   b. They race for 150 miles and the finishing order determines the next step, where the first of the top-35 voodoo math becomes a factor.
3. Top 35 guarantee – The Top 35, based on owner’s points from the end of the 2007 season, are guaranteed a starting position in the first five races of the 2008 season. After that, the Top 35 is based on 2008 performance. For the Daytona 500, the rule changes a bit. Here remaining four starting spots how: The third through 39th positions are set by those Top 35, in the order they finished their respective 150’s (third to the winner of the odd-numbered race, fourth to the winner of the even-numbered race – and so on) and the top two non-Top-35 drivers. Easy, right? Just wait.
4. The remaining four starting spots (40 through 43) go to the next-fastest drivers from the original qualifying positions (see Step 1) who don’t already have a starting spot. Unless:
5. The Past Champions Provisional – The much-outdated and over-rated (and now, abused) Past Champions Provisional takes the 43rd spot. If Kurt Busch doesn’t get one of the rare non-Top-35 positions awarded in steps three or four, then he gets the 43rd spot because he is the most recent Past Champion outside the Top-35. “How can that be?” you may ask (and you should), “he was the fourth-place finisher in the Chase last year!” Well, Roger Penske hired Sam Hornish to drive the #77 car, but Sam has trouble qualifying, so Roger’s lawyers petitioned NASCAR’s lawyers to transfer Busch’s points to Sam and NASCAR laid down real easy for Roger and now Busch has no points, but he has a Past Champion’s Provisional. If Kurt does get in by driving fast, there’s still Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott who are outside the Top-35 and past champions.

And that’s the order they’ll start in, unless someone changes an engine-changing rules come into play – (teams are allowed an engine change between the Twin 150’s and the 500), or if NASCAR determines they should go to the back of the field for some other reason.

So, there you’ve got it, neighbor – the five easy steps in determining the starting lineup of the Daytona 500.

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