NASCAR: How are the final two Daytona 500 spots determined?

Two spots remain open in the field for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500. How will those spots be determined in tonight’s Bluegreen Vacations Duels?

The 40-car field for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway is nearly set, and the starting lineup for the race is slated to be solidified in this evening’s two Bluegreen Vacations Duels.

But entering tonight’s two 60-lap races around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked superspeedway oval in Daytona Beach, Florida, only 38 drivers are locked into the field for Sunday’s 200-lap main event.

Of these 38 drivers, 36 are locked in because they are driving chartered entries. The other two, Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley and Beard Motorsports’ Brendan Gaughan, locked themselves in by being the fastest two drivers of non-chartered entries in this past Sunday’s single-car qualifying session.

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This means that with 43 cars on the entry list, the battle for the remaining two positions will come down to five drivers.

How will these final two positions be determined?

These five drivers are MBM Motorsports teammates Timmy Hill and Chad Finchum, Premium Motorsports’ Reed Sorenson, Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Daniel Suarez and Rick Ware Racing’s J.J. Yeley.

Set to compete in the first Duel are Sorenson, Suarez and Finchum, starting in 18th, 19th and 21st place, respectively, and set to compete in the second Duel are Hill and Yeley, starting in 17th and 19th, respectively. Haley is set to compete in the first Duel and Gaughan is set to compete in the second. They are both set to start in 16th in their respective Duels.

Full starting lineups can be seen here.

Per NASCAR.com, “Open slots in the Daytona 500 are filled by the two best finishing Open Teams (one from each race) in their respective Duels. If there are any starting positions remaining to be filled upon completion of the Duels, the remaining positions will be filled in order based on final qualifying results.”

This means that if Sorenson, Suarez or Finchum finishes as the highest driver of a non-chartered entry in the first Duel, that driver will qualify for the Daytona 500.

However, if Haley, who has already qualified for the Daytona 500, finishes higher than all three of these drivers and thus finishes as the highest driver of a non-chartered entry in the first Duel, the Daytona 500 spot will revert to this past Sunday’s qualifying results, and Sorenson would get the spot since he was quicker than Suarez and Finchum.

Likewise, if Hill or Yeley finish as the highest driver of a non-chartered entry in the second Duel, that driver will qualify for the Daytona 500.

However, if Gaughan, who has already qualified for the Daytona 500, finishes higher than both of these drivers and thus finishes as the highest driver of a non-chartered entry in the second Duel, the Daytona 500 spot will revert to this past Sunday’s qualifying results, and Hill would get the spot since he was quicker than Yeley.

In summation, Sorenson and Hill can race their way into the Daytona 500 OR rely on Haley and Gaughan to do that for them. But Suarez, Finchum and Yeley must all race their way in.

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Bluegreen Vacations Duels from Daytona International Speedway to see how the field will lineup for Sunday afternoon’s 62nd annual Daytona 500, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET to get the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season underway.