{"id":30222,"date":"2025-02-11T18:30:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T23:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=30222"},"modified":"2025-02-11T18:19:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T23:19:42","slug":"daytona-500-qualifying-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/11\/daytona-500-qualifying-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"Daytona 500 Qualifying Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the most prestigious race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, not just anyone gets to race in it. Daytona 500 qualifying is different than any other race in the world. Here is the Daytona 500 qualifying procedure explained.<\/p>\n<h2>How to Qualify for the Daytona 500:<\/h2>\n<p>Since 1959, The Daytona 500 has been the greatest race stock car race in the world\u201440 cars, racing around a 2.5 mile with 31 degrees of banking for 200 laps. But for a race this special, it requires a special qualifying format. To the outsider, it can be confusing. But to the faithful, it is tradition and always helps to build hype for Sunday&#8217;s race.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"2024 Daytona 500 Highlights | NASCAR on FOX\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kqSa6teNT1Q?start=11&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>1st: Single Car Qualifying<\/h3>\n<p>Like every other race, the cars will hit the track for practice ahead of single-car runs. One last chance to nut and bolt check your car and make final adjustments. Once the sun goes down, the cars will line up on pit road, with the order being random.<\/p>\n<p>The top two cars that run the fastest lap will be locked into the race as the front row. The other 34 chartered cars will be locked into the race. The two fastest non-chartered cars, also called open cars, will be locked into the Daytona 500. If, for any reason, they cannot make the lap, they will have to lock into the race through the Duels.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You May Be Interested In: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/02\/15\/logano-team-penske-earn-first-daytona-500-pole-ford-full-front-row\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Logano &amp; Team Penske earn first Daytona 500 Pole, Ford full front row<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>2nd: The Duels<\/h3>\n<p>After single-car qualifying, the rest of the order will be set through twin, 125-mile duel races. These races, the first setting the inside row of cars (3rd,5th, 7th, etc.), the second setting the outside (4th, 6th, etc.). The starting grid for these races comes from the qualifying order from single-car runs.<\/p>\n<p>The open cars in the field, excluding the two locked in by single-car runs, will fight for the two remaining open spots. This year, with nine open cars in the field, five drivers will be returning home and not running the Daytona 500.<\/p>\n<p>There is a new rule in the NASCAR Rule Book called the Open Exemption Provisional. An outside talent, like an Indy 500 champion or F1 driver, can use this provisional to create a 41st starting spot. This year, Helio Castroneves and the #91 Trackhouse team will be utilizing that provisional.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/01\/06\/helio-castroneves-to-attempt-2025-daytona-500-with-trackhouse-racing\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Helio Castroneves to attempt 2025 Daytona 500 with Trackhouse Racing<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>The Daytona 500 Qualifying order is set, now what?<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30227\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30227\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30227 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/02\/imago1040646456-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30227\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">IMAGO\/Icon Sportswire. 2\/15\/2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Following the conclusion of the duels, the lineup for the Daytona 500 is set. The open cars that did not qualify will pack up and head home. Since the duels are a race, there is bound to be contact. Those cars that are locked in, whether with a charter or an open car on lap speed, can repair their cars.<\/p>\n<p>Following the duels, there will be two additional practices, one before the Truck Series race and one before the Xfinity Series race. Additional opportunities to tweak the set-up, check all the nuts and bolts, and just make sure you are good for the 200 laps on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Just getting into the race is a tough feat. Once you are racing in it, it&#8217;s even tougher. Make it through the Big Ones, and you could have a shot at hoisting the Harley J. Earl Trophy and your name in the history books.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Single Car Qualifying for the 2025 Daytona 500 takes place Wednesday, Feb. 12th. Coverage is provided by Fox Sports One and begins at 8:15 PM Eastern.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Featured Image Credit: IMAGO\/Icon Sportswire. 2\/16\/2025<\/p>\n<p><strong>You May Also Like: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/02\/20\/william-byron-adds-another-daytona-500-to-the-hendrick-legacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">William Byron adds another Daytona 500 to the Hendrick legacy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the most prestigious race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, not just anyone gets to race in it. Daytona 500 qualifying is different than any other race in the world. Here is the Daytona 500 qualifying procedure explained. How to Qualify for the Daytona 500: Since 1959, The Daytona 500 has been the greatest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4347,"featured_media":30226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1664],"tags":[1299,502,1298,429],"class_list":["post-30222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-nascar-cup-series","tag-bluegreen-duels","tag-daytona-500","tag-daytona-500-starting-lineup","tag-daytona-international-speedway"],"modified_by":"Hayden Murdock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4347"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30222"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30229,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30222\/revisions\/30229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}