NASCAR: Two drivers won’t compete in the Daytona 500
By Asher Fair
After Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana locked into the Daytona 500, two more NASCAR Cup Series drivers will do so in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels. Who will come up short?
Six drivers entered Wednesday night’s Daytona 500 single-car qualifying session without guaranteed spots in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season opener.
The 36 chartered entries are all locked in, so with 42 cars on the entry list and Cup Series fields capped at 40 cars, these six drivers were going for four spots.
Two of these spots were up for grabs in Wednesday night’s session, and they went to Legacy Motor Club’s Jimmie Johnson and 23XI Racing’s Travis Pastrana (both pictured), who topped this six-driver group on the speed chart. They are both locked into the race.
As a result, Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith, Beard Motorsports’ Austin Hill, Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith, and The Money Team Racing’s Conor Daly have not secured spots in the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval and must do so on Thursday night in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels.
Two of them will get into the Daytona 500, and two of them won’t. How will those spots be determined?
In the opening 60-lap Duel race, Johnson is set to start in 12th place, Zane Smith is set to start in 15th, and Chandler Smith is set to start in 21st. In the second, Pastrana is set to start in 12th, Hill is set to start in 16th, and Daly is set to start in 21st.
While Johnson and Pastrana are already locked in, they can both technically lock in based on their Duel results instead of their qualifying speed.
This would therefore give the spots they earned via their qualifying speed to the next fastest driver (or drivers) in the single-car qualifying session, not necessarily the next highest finishers in their Duel races.
The easiest way for Zane Smith to lock in is by beating Johnson and Chandler Smith, and the easiest way for Hill to lock in is by beating Pastrana and Daly.
But if Johnson finishes higher than Zane Smith and Chandler Smith, Zane Smith gets in as the next highest qualifier. Or, if Pastrana finishes higher than Hill and Daly, then Zane Smith gets in as the next highest qualifier, even if Chandler Smith beats both him and Johnson.
If Johnson finishes higher than Zane Smith and Chandler Smith and Pastrana finishes higher than Hill and Daly, then both Zane Smith and Austin Hill lock in on qualifying speed.
The only way for Chandler Smith to get in is by beating Johnson and Zane Smith, and the only way for Daly to get in is by beating Pastrana and Hill. Neither Chandler Smith nor Daly can fall back on qualifying speed.
Here are all of the scenarios, along with who locks in and who doesn’t lock in under each.
Top Duel finishers: Jimmie Johnson, Travis Pastrana
- Duel 1: Jimmie Johnson
- Duel 2: Travis Pastrana
- Speed: Zane Smith (third place), Austin Hill (fourth place)
- Out: Chandler Smith, Conor Daly
Top Duel finishers: Jimmie Johnson, Austin Hill
- Duel 1: Jimmie Johnson
- Duel 2: Austin Hill
- Speed: Travis Pastrana (second place), Zane Smith (third place)
- Out: Chandler Smith, Conor Daly
Top Duel finishers: Jimmie Johnson, Conor Daly
- Duel 1: Jimmie Johnson
- Duel 2: Conor Daly
- Speed: Travis Pastrana (second place), Zane Smith (third place)
- Out: Austin Hill, Chandler Smith
Top Duel finishers: Zane Smith, Travis Pastrana
- Duel 1: Zane Smith
- Duel 2: Travis Pastrana
- Speed: Jimmie Johnson (first place), Austin Hill (fourth place)
- Out: Chandler Smith, Conor Daly
Top Duel finishers: Zane Smith, Austin Hill
- Duel 1: Zane Smith
- Duel 2: Austin Hill
- Speed: Jimmie Johnson (first place), Travis Pastrana (second place)
- Out: Chandler Smith, Conor Daly
Top Duel finishers: Zane Smith, Conor Daly
- Duel 1: Zane Smith
- Duel 2: Conor Daly
- Speed: Jimmie Johnson (first place), Travis Pastrana (second place)
- Out: Chandler Smith, Austin Hill
Top Duel finishers: Chandler Smith, Travis Pastrana
- Duel 1: Chandler Smith
- Duel 2: Travis Pastrana
- Speed: Jimmie Johnson (first place), Zane Smith (third place)
- Out: Austin Hill, Conor Daly
Top Duel finishers: Chandler Smith, Austin Hill
- Duel 1: Chandler Smith
- Duel 2: Austin Hill
- Speed: Jimmie Johnson (first place), Travis Pastrana (second place)
- Out: Zane Smith, Conor Daly
Top Duel finishers: Chandler Smith, Conor Daly
- Duel 1: Chandler Smith
- Duel 2: Conor Daly
- Speed: Jimmie Johnson (first place), Travis Pastrana (second place)
- Out: Zane Smith, Austin Hill
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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 this Sunday afternoon for the live broadcast of the 65th annual Daytona 500. Start a free trial of FuboTV now if you haven’t already done so!