Is the Daytona 500 qualifying format good or bad?
I was pleasantly surprised when I read the e-mail from my buddy Wes in Tennessee. “The only part of Speedweeks that I care for (including the 500) are the Duels. Two races in one day, shootout style. And the go-or-go-homers are racing like their careers are on the line.” Why would a race fan say that of all the festivities going on in the two weeks of buildup that the most electrifying laps at Daytona are turned in the Gatorade Duels? Because the format NASCAR uses for the Daytona 500 actually makes qualifying mean something. It’s two 60-lap shootouts to not only determine how the grid will line up but more importantly seal the fate of a dozen drivers or so. The most insignificant laps in NASCAR are the two qualifying laps at a restrictor-plate race. Starting position means nothing in the draft, and nearly every team outside the top 35 has their car tuned so tight for those two laps that if they kept that setup in a race, they’d be out faster than Morgan Shepherd. “Handling” it will sa
