DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel qualifying races, the Artists Formerly Known as the Duel 150s, were destined to be a letdown. NASCAR’s new charter ownership system, documents that are still fresh off the lawyer’s printer, meant that 36 of the 40 starting spots for Sunday’s Daytona 500 were already locked up. Pole qualifying had locked up two more slots on the grid.
So, when the green flag flew over the pair of 22-car, 60-lap races Thursday, each event had only one starting spot to hand out, raced for between a whopping three drivers.
It was a far cry from the qualifying doubleheaders of the past. Decades ago, dozens of cars missed the cut, racing furiously to the finish of the then-125-mile races. In recent years, the norm had become eight to 10 cars fighting for four spots in the field. Those still on the bubble after the first race couldn’t relax until the second had ended, with so many would-be qualifiers spread out through both fields.
So, there was no drama Thursday night, right? No tension, right? An easy-going, cliffhanger-free evening at the World Center of Racing. Moments before the green flag, thinking about my annual go-to Duels strategy of hanging out with the pacing, panicked bubble teams during the second race, I turned to my editor and said, “This will be a breeze tonight, won’t it?”
That was easy for us to say.
“Oh no, this was way more tense tonight,” said Michael McDowell, who finished 14th in Duel No. 1 to earn that race’s lone Sunday starting spot. It was the third time in seven years that McDowell, driving for Circle Sport/Leavine Family Racing, had to race his way into the Daytona 500 field. So, he’s a bit of an expert on the subject. His status was in doubt when he could barely broach the subject because his smile was too big.
“In the past, it might have seemed crazier to you, but when it’s complicated like that, that means there are a lot of possible scenarios,” he said. “Tonight, the goal was simple: Beat the 30 [Josh Wise] and the 98 [Cole Whitt], but the margin of error on that was zero. That was nerve-racking.”
McDowell’s simple scenario was the result of a complicated situation. His team did a deal with Richard Childress Racing, with whom they have a technical alliance, to put Ty Dillon in McDowell’s No. 95 car. That car has a charter safety net. The car McDowell drove on Thursday, the No. 59, did not. He’ll get that back next week at Atlanta. That did nothing to ease his nerves at Daytona.
“In years past, I knew, OK, there are three or four of us fighting for this thing, but we’ve got some room to make that happen. We might be able to fall back on qualifying speed or something. Not tonight. Tonight was all or nothing.”
In the evening’s second Duel, the three cars fighting for the final spot — David Gilliland, Reed Sorenson and Robert Richardson Jr. — ran nose-to-tail throughout the race. With five laps to go, that trio found itself being lapped, suddenly caught in a dicey situation when the leaders went three-wide as they passed by.
A few laps later, when those front-runners went crashing into the wall, Richardson found himself in the Daytona 500 field after finishing 18th. Just two weeks ago, he didn’t even have a ride for the race. “I was on my tractor back home in Texas cutting my hay pastures. Now I’m in the Daytona 500.”
His BK Racing teammate, Matt DiBenedetto, had the security of being the fastest non-charter team pole qualifier, but he knew that his finishing position would have a direct effect on Richardson’s chances. That security didn’t keep him from choking back tears after finishing ninth and qualifying for his first Daytona 500. Meanwhile, Gilliland, who finished ahead of Richardson but missed the field, dropped his shoulders, consoled by family, as he left pit road knowing he was headed home.
But, surely they’d heard. These new charter-era Duels, they were totally boring. No excitement. They meant nothing. Zero on the line. “Yeah, I’ve been up since dawn,” Richardson said of the day. “I was pacing back and forth all the way up until I got into my car tonight, at what? Nine o’clock? Ask my feet how easy today was.”
