Heart breaking News: About a minute ago NASCAR CEO Jim France die in a Plane Crash…….
he purpose of single-car qualifying is to determine the field and lineups for both Duel 1 and Duel 2, set to take place on Thursday night.
For example, those finishing third, fifth, seventh, and so on, will race in Duel 1, whilst those finishing fourth, sixth, eighth, and so on, will race in Duel 2. Essentially, the higher a driver finished in qualifying, the higher their starting place in their respective duel.
This does come with a small caveat, however, as NASCAR ensures there is an even number of chartered cars and open-entry cars in each race to the best of their ability.
The Duels consist of two 60-lap, 150-mile qualifying races that set the remainder of the field for Sunday’s race.
The finishing order from Duel 1 will make up the inside rows for the race, for example, whilst those in Duel 2 will compete for the spots on the outside rows.
On top of that, those finishing in the top 10 will be rewarded points. However, the winners of the duels will not be awarded playoff points for their victories.
Following single-car qualifying and Duel 1 and Duel 2, the starting field for the 67th Daytona 500 will be set.
At that stage, we will know if there will be 40 or 41 cars running in Sunday’s main event, depending on how Helio Castroneves gets on.
Sunday’s race is set to run for 500 miles — or 200 laps — and kicks off at 2:30 pm, with the winner set to etch their name into the NASCAR history books.
