What should have been an adjustment for the Daytona 500 may have cost Hendrick Motorsports the front row for the NASCAR version of the Super Bowl.
Alex Bowman and William Byron were scheduled to lead the Daytona 500 field to the green, but that is 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) defeated Christopher Bell (20), Ryan Newman (6) and Joey Logano (22) at the finish line to win the first NASCAR Daytona 500 duel qualifying race.
(AP Photo / Chris O’Meara)
Byron collapsed in an accident in the second duel and it ruined his Chevrolet. He needs to go to a spare car for the 500 and the exchange sends him to the bottom of the field.
“What a bore,” said Byron. “Dude, it was fast.”
Aric Almirola won the first race. After a rain delay brought the second match to a close on Friday morning, Austin Dillon used a crossover move on Bubba Wallace to beat Wallace with the checkered flag.
Almirola in a Ford is scheduled to start after Byron, but will slip to the front row when Byron falls backwards. Dillon in a Chevrolet will wait to see if Hendrick changes Bowman’s engine this weekend.
Austin Cindric and Kaz Grala won their first places in the Daytona 500 by claiming the two transfer positions available in the duels. Ty Dillon, Timmy Hill, Garrett Smithley and Noah Gragson failed to advance.
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Smithley and Gragson were competing with each other for the transfer place in the second race, when Smithley tried to dodge Gragson. Brad Keselowski on the outside did not expect Smithley to fill the gap and the two collided, starting a shipwreck that eliminated Smithley and Gragson.
Byron was also caught in that accident.
Bowman noticed a problem with his engine and instead of pushing too hard, he drove onto the pit lane during the first race to give his No. 48 team a chance to save their winning race.
“I don’t want to keep doing this,” Bowman said on the radio.
The team has put its car back on track, but must decide whether it needs to do a preventive engine change or bet that what’s in the car can now go far on Sunday. Winning pole 500 is prestigious, but the actual starting position matters very little in a 500-mile race in Daytona.
“I feel like we did a good job of understanding it and I hope we can diagnose it and make sure everything is fine,” said team leader Greg Ives of the work ahead of us.
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Meanwhile, Wallace in his debut for Michael Jordan’s new 23XI Racing team flirted with his first win in a World Cup car. He was the leader on the last lap of the second duel until Dillon crossed over to Wallace from the inside and moved forward.
Wallace tried to hold him firmly, but staggered after knocking on the doors with Dillon.
“Good debut, but nothing to be really happy about myself,” said Wallace. “It’s normal for drivers to be tough on themselves – that’s how we get motivated. I know I have a lot to learn here.”
Cindric and Grala entered their first Daytona 500 through NASCAR’s peculiar qualification 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 put eight drivers in four places, with two of them attributed to David Ragan and Ryan Preece in Wednesday’s time trial. The other two slots were open to the most open “open” cars in each duel – unless the biggest finisher was Ragan or Preece.
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Preece overtook Ty Dillon in the final stretch of the first race, and although Dillon finished sixth in 22 cars, the transfer site fell to Cindric based on his qualifying speed from the previous day.
“Some days is your day, I think,” said Cindric, who met Dillon on the pit lane and shook his hand after the final.
Grala’s transfer was similar, as Ragan was the open car with the best finish in the second duel, and Smithley and Gragson were part of the wreckage that caught Byron.
Almirola won his first race of his career at 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 to win the NASCAR version of the Super Bowl.
“This thing was a hot rod. Our race car is very fast, ”said Almirola. “We have an incredible race car and I can’t wait for the Daytona 500.”
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The Daytona 500 is scheduled to start at 2:30 pm EST on Fox
Here is the provisional starting lineup for the race:
1.Alex Bowman No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports
2. William Byron No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports
3.Aric Almirola No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
4. Austin Dillon No. 3 Richard Childress Racing
5. Christopher Bell No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
6.Bubba Wallace No. 23 23XI Racing
7. Ryan Newman No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing
8. Kevin Harvick No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
9.Joey Logano No. 22 Penske Team
10.Kyle Busch No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
11. Ryan Preece * No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing *
12.Chase Elliott No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports
13.Kyle Larson No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports
14. Ryan Blaney No. 12 Penske Team
15. Daniel Suarez No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team
16.Corey LaJoie No. 7 Spire Motorsports
17.Michael McDowell No. 34 Front Row Motorsports
18.David Ragan * No. 36 Front Row Motorsports *
19. Jamie McMurray No. 77 Spire Motorsports
20. Kurt Busch No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
22.Chris Buescher No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing
23.Matt DiBenedetto No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing
24.Brad Keselowski No. 2 Penske Team
25.Denny Hamlin No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
26. Martin Truex Jr. No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
27.Cole Custer No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
28.Joey Gase No. 53 Rick Ware Racing
29. Tyler Reddick No. 8 Richard Childress Racing
30. Briscoe Stage No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
31.Erik Jones No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
32.Derrike Cope No. 15 Rick Ware Racing
33. Quin Houff No. 00 StarCom Racing
34. Ross Chastain No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
35.Cody Ware No. 51 Rick Ware Racing
36. Anthony Alfredo Nº 38 from the front row of motorsport
37. Josh Bilicki No. 52 Rick Ware Racing
38.BJ McLeod No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports
39.Austin Cindric * No. 33 Penske Team
40.Kaz Grala * No. 16 Kaulig Racing