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What should have been a tune-up for the Daytona 500 could have cost Hendrick Motorsports the front row for the NASCAR version of the Super Bowl.
Alex Bowman and William Byron were supposed to lead the Daytona 500 field in the green, but that’s in jeopardy after Thursday night’s qualifying races. Bowman had an engine problem in the first 150 mile race and, if his engine needs to be changed, he will lose pole on Sunday.
Aric Almirola (10) defeats Christopher Bell (20), Ryan Newman (6) and Joey Logano (22) to the finish line to win the first qualifying car race of the NASCAR Daytona 500 duel.
(AP Photo / Chris O’Meara)
Byron was picked up in an accident in the second Duel and it ruined his Chevrolet. He needs to switch to a spare car for the 500 and the swap sends him to the back of the field.
“Too bad,” Byron said. “Dude, the thing was quick.”
Aric Almirola won the first race. After a rain delay pushed the second Duel to a finish on Friday morning, Austin Dillon used a cross movement on Bubba Wallace to beat Wallace at the checkered flag.
Almirola in a Ford is expected to start behind Byron but will slide to the front row when Byron falls in the back. Dillon in a Chevrolet will wait to see if Hendrick changes Bowman’s engine this weekend.
Austin Cindric and Kaz Grala both secured their top spots in the Daytona 500 by claiming the two transfer positions available in Duels. Ty Dillon, Timmy Hill, Garrett Smithley and Noah Gragson have all failed.
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Smithley and Gragson were vying for the transfer spot in race two when Smithley tried to get around Gragson. Brad Keselowski on his outside didn’t expect Smithley to close the gap and the two collided, starting a wreckage that knocked out Smithley and Gragson.
Byron was also caught up in this accident.
Bowman sensed a problem with his engine and rather than pushing it too far, he took to the pit lane in race one to give his No.48 crew a chance to save their pole race.
“I don’t want to keep making it work,” Bowman said.
The team has got their car back on track, but must decide whether to make a preemptive engine change or bet that whoever is in the car can now cover the distance on Sunday. Winning pole 500 is glamorous, but the actual starting position matters very little in a 500 mile race at Daytona.
“I feel like we did a good job figuring it out and hopefully we can diagnose it and make sure it’s okay,” team leader Greg Ives said of the work ahead. .
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Meanwhile, Wallace, on his debut in the new 23XI Racing team owned by Michael Jordan, flirted with his first Cup car victory. He was the leader in the last lap of the second Duel until Dillon got inside Wallace and got a head start.
Wallace tried to hold him steady but wobbled after knocking on doors with Dillon.
“Good start but nothing to be really happy with,” Wallace said. “It’s okay for the drivers to be tough on themselves – that’s how we motivate ourselves. I know I have a lot to learn here.”
Cindric and Grala both competed in their first Daytona 500 thanks to original NASCAR qualifying for their biggest race of the year. The race had 48 participants for 40 places, but all but four are claimed by teams with guaranteed entry.
He pitted eight drivers for four places, including two attributed to David Ragan and Ryan Preece in Wednesday’s time trial. The other two spots were open to the most finished “open” cars of each Duel – unless the top finisher was Ragan or Preece.
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Preece passed Ty Dillon on the home stretch of race one, and although Dillon was sixth out of 22 cars, the transfer spot fell to Cindric based on his qualifying speed the night before.
“Some days it’s your day I guess,” said Cindric, who found Dillon on the pit lane and shook his hand after the finish.
Grala’s transfer was similar as Ragan was the most successful open car in the second Duel, and Smithley and Gragson were part of the wreckage that brought Byron together.
Almirola won his first career race at the Speedweeks and the Tampa Bay native noted it was a good week; The Buccaneers won the Super Bowl and Almirola thinks he has a chance of winning the NASCAR version of the Super Bowl.
“This thing was a hot rod. Our race car is so fast,” Almirola said. “We have an amazing race car and I can’t wait to have the Daytona 500.”
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The Daytona 500 is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. EST on Fox
Here is the provisional start list for the race:
1.Alex Bowman # 48 Hendrick Motorsports
2.William Byron # 24 Hendrick Motorsports
3.Aric Almirola # 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
4.Austin Dillon # 3 Richard Childress Racing
5.Christopher Bell # 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
6.Bubba Wallace n ° 23 23XI Racing
7.Ryan Newman # 6 Roush Fenway Racing
8 Kevin Harvick # 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
9. Joey Logano # 22 Penske Team
10.Kyle Busch # 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
11.Ryan Preece * # 37 JTG Daugherty Racing *
12.Chase Elliott # 9 Hendrick Motorsports
13.Kyle Larson # 5 Hendrick Motorsports
# 12 Ryan Blaney of Team Penske
15.Daniel Suarez # 99 Trackhouse Racing Team
16.Corey LaJoie n ° 7 Spire Motorsports
17.Michael McDowell No.34 Front Row Motorsport
18.David Ragan * No.36 in Motorsport Front Row *
19. Jamie McMurray # 77 Spire Motorsports
20.Kurt Busch n ° 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
21.Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
22. Chris Buescher # 17 Roush Fenway Racing
23.Matt DiBenedetto n ° 21 Wood Brothers Racing
24.Brad Keselowski, Team No.2 Penske
25.Denny Hamlin # 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
26. Martin Truex Jr. # 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
27.Cole Custer # 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
28.Joey Gase # 53 Rick Ware Racing
29.Tyler Reddick # 8 Richard Childress Racing
30.Chase Briscoe # 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
31. Erik Jones # 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
32.Derrike Cope # 15 Rick Ware Racing
33.Quin Houff n ° 00 StarCom Racing
34.Ross Chastain n ° 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
35.Cody Ware # 51 Rick Ware Racing
36. Anthony Alfredo # 38 Front Row Motorsports
37.Josh Bilicki # 52 Rick Ware Racing
38.BJ McLeod # 78 Live Fast Motorsports
39.Austin Cindric * # 33 Team Penske
40.Kaz Grala * n ° 16 Kaulig Racing
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