NASCAR: Two drivers will miss the Daytona 500, but who?

Two drivers will fail to qualify for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 in this evening’s Bluegreen Vacations Duels.

A total of 42 drivers completed a qualifying attempt on Wednesday night at Daytona International Speedway ahead of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500.

This single-car qualifying session set the front row for the Daytona 500 as well as the starting lineups for tonight’s two 60-lap Duels around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked oval in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The results of these two races are set to complete the starting lineup for Sunday’s 200-lap “Great American Race”.

Entering Wednesday night’s qualifying session, 36 drivers were locked into the race already, due to the fact that they drive chartered entries. With a 40-car field, this meant that six drivers in non-chartered entries were battling for the final four spots.

Two of those drivers locked themselves in by being the fastest two among these six drivers.

Those two drivers are Beard Motorsports’ Noah Gragson and Team Hezeberg’s Jacques Villeneuve, leaving The Money Team Racing’s Kaz Grala, NY Racing Team’s Greg Biffle, and MBM Motorsports teammates Timmy Hill and J.J. Yeley to battle for the final two spots.

Here are the qualifying speeds among these six drivers from Wednesday night.

Rank – Driver – Car, Team, Manufacturer – Speed (miles per hour)
33rd – Noah Gragson – #62, Beard Motorsports, Chevrolet – 177.553
36th – Jacques Villeneuve – #27, Team Hezeberg, Ford – 176.436
37th – Kaz Grala – #50, The Money Team Racing, Chevrolet – 176.146
38th – Greg Biffle – #44, NY Racing Team, Chevrolet – 176.125
41st – J.J. Yeley – #55, MBM Motorsports, Ford – 173.06
42nd – Timmy Hill – #66, MBM Motorsports, Ford – 172.206

These results mean that Gragson, Grala and Yeley are set to compete in the first Duel while Villeneuve, Biffle and Hill are set to compete in the second.

Even though Gragson and Villeneuve have locked in on speed, they can change that and officially lock in on their Duel results if they finish higher than these competitors in their respective Duel races, as the Duels take precedence over the results of the single-car qualifying session.

This would therefore re-open up a spot (or two spots) on speed. So if Gragson beats Grala and Yeley in his Duel race, he would lock in because of that as opposed to his qualifying speed, opening up a spot on speed that would be given to Grala, as he was faster than Yeley in the qualifying session.

And if Villeneuve beats Biffle and Hill in his Duel race, he would lock in because of that as opposed to his qualifying speed, opening up a spot on speed that would be given to Biffle, as he was faster than Hill in the qualifying session.

Grala and Biffle can lock in the same way, which would mean that Gragson and Villeneuve would be able to fall back on speed; there is no way for Gragson and Villeneuve not to qualify for the race at this point.

Yeley and Hill can lock in the same way, but there is no way for them to fall back on speed. This means that the only way for them to lock in is by finishing as the highest non-chartered entries in their respective Duel races.

For Yeley, this would require him to beat both Gragson and Grala — not just Grala, as Grala would still lock in on speed (over Yeley) if Yeley beats him but Gragson beats both to officially lock in on Duel result as opposed to speed.

And for Hill, this would require him to beat both Villeneuve and Biffle — not just Biffle, as Biffle would still lock in on speed (over Hill) if Hill beats him but Villeneuve beats both to officially lock in on Duel result as opposed to speed.

One scenario could interestingly send all three drivers from one Duel into the race. If Yeley beats Gragson and Grala and Villeneuve beats Biffle and Hill, Yeley and Villeneuve would be the two drivers who lock in due to their Duel results, and Gragson and Grala would get in on qualifying speed.

For a complete rundown on this qualifying process, click here.

As a result, many believe that MBM Motorsports, for the second straight year, will see both of their entries fail to qualify for the race. Last year, when eight non-chartered entries battled for four spots, Hill and teammate Garrett Smithley were among the four who failed to qualify.

But anything can happen in the Duels, as we saw in 2020 when Hill qualified for the Daytona 500 as an underdog with his performance.

Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 7:00 p.m. ET this evening for the live broadcast of the Bluegreen Vacations Duels from Daytona International Speedway, and tune in to Fox at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 20 for the live broadcast of the 64th annual Daytona 500. Don’t miss out on the chance to claim your free trial of FuboTV today!