How does daytona qualifying work

Aside from the top two qualifiers from the previous time trial as mentioned above , the finishing order of each Duel determines the final starting order for the Daytona The second-place finisher will start fifth, the third-place finisher will start seventh, and so on.

Until , the races were merely qualifying events that awarded no championship points. Since then, the winner of each Duel receives 10 championship points. However, a Duel win does not count toward advancing to the playoffs. Richard Petty before the inaugural Daytona in ! Amazing how far racing has come. The only numbers from Wednesday's session that will affect the Daytona starting grid will be the two fastest times.

The drivers with the two best qualifying times will be locked in the front row. They are allowed to compete in the duels, but their finishing positions will not be relevant to setting the grid.

Thursday's duels will determine the inside and outside rows and which competitors will not be in the car field. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In fact, seven of the top eight finishers at last year's event started the race outside the top Kevin Harvick was the only top starter to earn a top-eight spot. If qualifying and both duels are rained out, combined practice speeds will be used to determine the starting lineup for the race. What happens if everything gets rained out?

Car Life. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories. Brian Lawdermilk Getty Images. Only the front row for The Great American Race is decided after time trials. With the field now set there are still a few things to mention: Should a driver crash in the duels, one of two things will happen.