Tricon Garage's Martin Truex Jr. and Legacy Motor Club's Jimmie Johnson were the fastest two drivers of non-chartered (open) cars in Wednesday night's single-car qualifying session (full results here) for Sunday afternoon's Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
As a result, they are locked into the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) high-banked Daytona Beach, Florida oval without having to worry about how Thursday night's two 60-lap Duel at Daytona races play out.
But there is incentive for both drivers to run hard in those races, as racing one's way in via a Duel heat takes precedence over locking in on qualifying speed. Should they be beaten by another open entry or entries in their respective Duel races, they would be locking themselves onto the 20th row of the grid for the Daytona 500 itself.
But should they lead the open cars in their respective Duel races, they would have officially raced their way in, and their Daytona 500 starting positions would be based on their Duel results, meaning they could start as high up as the second row.
Meanwhile, the two spots on row 20, the two spots that are officially awarded on speed, would go to the next fastest driver/drivers from Wednesday session.
Among open cars, JR Motorsports' Justin Allgaier was third fastest on Wednesday night, and Rick Ware Racing's Corey LaJoie was fourth fastest.
Allgaier gets in on speed if either Truex tops the open cars in his Duel race or if Johnson tops the open cars in his Duel race (without Allgaier topping his), while LaJoie gets in on speed if either Truex or Allgaier top the open cars in their Duel race and Johnson does the same.
Both Allgaier and LaJoie can, of course, also race their way in by being the top finishers (among open cars) in their respective Duel races.
Nobody else can back their way into the Daytona 500 on speed.
Everybody else must race their way in to get into the "Great American Race".
Duel 1 consists of Truex, Allgaier, Trackhouse Racing's Helio Castroneves, Garage 66's Chandler Smith, and NY Racing Team's J.J. Yeley.
Duel 2 consists of Johnson, LaJoie, Beard Motorsports' Anthony Alfredo, and Live Fast Motorsports' B.J. McLeod.
Castroneves is actually locked in regardless, since he has been granted a "world-class driver" provisional. Should he race his way in to be one of the four open qualifiers, the field would remain capped at 40 cars, but if he fails to do so, a 41st spot would be added at the back of the field for the 49-year-old Brazilian.
Fox Sports 1 is set to provide live coverage of the Duel at Daytona from Daytona International Speedway beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 13. Fox is set to provide live coverage of the Daytona 500 itself beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 16. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action from the "World Center of Racing"!