by: PattyKay Lilley
Good day race fans, and welcome to Qualifying 101. The qualifying race for the Daytona 500 will be run this year on Sunday, February 17. As that day approaches, I’m hearing folks that have been in and around racing for years on end, including our own dear Legend, Tim Leeming, in yesterday’s column, saying that they don’t understand all the “changes” in the qualifying format. All I can say is that some folks must have shorter memories than mine… if that’s possible.
Gentle readers, I’m betting that those of you that have read anything I’ve written over the past nine years have heard me complain bitterly about that guaranteed top-35 spots in a race… at any race, but even more so at Daytona. My point was always that it negated any reason to run the Twin 150s… the Dual Duels that have run the Thursday before the big Sunday of the 500 for about as long as there has been a race track at Daytona. All that has happened is that NASCAR finally came ’round to my way of thinking, and that rule is now history. (Thank you Mr. France)
What we have now are essentially the same rules for Daytona qualifying that we had from 2003 counting backwards to 1959. The front row, positions 1-2, will go to the two fastest drivers from their qualifying runs on Feb. 17. That’s it for that day… two cars… period! The next 30 positions will be decided by placement in the Dual Duels, scheduled to run on Thursday, February 21. (I “think” they are still sponsored by Budweiser, and the racing field for each race is set by alternating placement from qualifying speeds.) Fifteen positions will be added to the already qualified pole sitter in each Dual race. We now have 32 cars qualified. (Remember, with that guaranteed top 35, the Dual races were only placing two cars apiece… decidedly not worth wrecking one’s car for)
The next four positions (33, 34, 35, 36) will go to drivers that didn’t make it in through the qualifying Duals, but posted the four fastest speeds in the February 17 qualifier. The next six positions, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 will be awarded as provisional starts based on 2012 Owner points. Finally, position 43, last on the starting grid, will go to the most recent past champion not yet in the field. If there is not a past champion still not in, that position will be filled by the next driver eligible based on 2012 owner points.
Just a side note here if I might… I’ve seen some quotes that the top 6 in qualifying are guaranteed to race, and that is correct. Even if those with qualifying speeds 3, 4, 5, 6 all failed to finish in their respective races, they would still be in on time, for positions 33, 34, 35, 36. It was always that way prior to our nine-year guarantee experiment, and now it’s that way again, reverting to speed before provisionals. C’mon guys, a lot of us have been around a long time. We’re going back to the old way… or as the Legend would say, “Back to the Future.” It’s really not rocket science!
For all races following the Daytona 500, the fastest 36 drivers in qualifying will make the race with six spots based on owner points and one spot reserved for a past champion (and if no past champion, another by owner points). For the next two races… Phoenix and Las Vegas…, 2012 owner points will be used. Please note another small victory for common sense there. Instead of using owner points from the past year for 6 or 5 races, we are now down to only three. Probably should be only one, but it’s getting better…
Now then gentle readers, and you too dear Legend, does that make it any easier to understand? Yes, it is and always has been a bit convoluted, but it was Big Bill’s show and he was decidedly a showman. Two or even three weeks of various racing at Daytona has been the norm of “Speedweeks” at Daytona since the track opened. Qualifying for the Daytona 500 has simply reverted to the same rules we have always known. I understood them then and I understand them now. It was the intervening nine years that I could not understand.
Oh, and Mr. France, I read where you have moved your media espionage department ( Media and Fan Engagement Center) from the Beach up to Charlotte and situated them in some pretty new offices. That’s nice Sir. Gives me a warm feeling of closeness, if only in that Charlotte is closer to North Georgia than is Daytona Beach. I appreciate that you’ve come out and confirmed what I’ve been saying for years… that you do care and you do read every word we write. I hope this explanation of the Daytona Qualifying rules is pleasing to you. I really do understand it, and now, I hope all my gentle readers do as well.
At this point, I cannot close without noting the date is January 17, and that means it was six short years ago today… or maybe six long years, depending on perception, that planet earth… and I, bade a sad “Good-bye” to Benny Parsons, racecar driver, Winston Cup Champion, broadcaster, humorist of the highest magnitude and my friend.
Some folks were just born to be remembered and that was Benny, in a nutshell. He was always ready with a quick one-liner and always loved to laugh. We met and exchanged pleasantries, well okay…jokes, many times at Martinsville, where our seats were always right under the press booth, on the aisle.
Benny was probably the only man on earth that could tell me I looked like a giant pink Shmoo and make it sound like a compliment, which I’m sure it was. It was raining that day and I had donned a bright pink poncho, purchased at a garage sale for $1, and proudly proclaiming across the back, “Pepto~Bismol.” He spied me on his way to the press booth, stopped dead in the aisle, clamped one hand over his mouth as he pointed at me with the other and broke into hysterical laughter, all at the same time. The Shmoo simile followed.
It never once occurred to me to ask Benny for an autograph, and the only picture I ever took of him was one time after he’d already headed up to the booth and I caught him at the top of the steps, where he obligingly posed for me before entering the press booth.
(There are many tributes to Benny, and I watched many of them before choosing one to place here. This one brought tears, and I knew immediately it was the right one.)
I was always delighted to share my sense of humor with Benny in exchange for his. We even share the same birthday, July 12, though I got here first by three years. Benny, ya left too soon old friend. Way too soon. Godspeed dear man. We’ll laugh again one day.
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay
Email: nas3car@gmail.com
Twitter: @MamaPKL
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I still can’t make sense of the qualifying procedures,but thank you for trying to educate a tree stump.
But more importantly,has Benny been elected to the H.O.F. yet?
It’s a sin he wasn’t in the inaugural class.
Maybe you can give us an idea of who votes on these things.
Thanks again,
Mike
Mike, I think you’re pulling my aged leg just a bit there. It’s not all that hard to understand, but if you want to stay after school I can arrange some special tutoring. Just remember, I was taught by nuns, so this teacher has a ruler. ~LOL
As for the Hall of Fame, I can indeed tell you everyone that votes on it, and it will surprise you. Another column for another day though. I “believe” without looking it up, that Benny is on the magic list of 25 in waiting, but then, so is Annie B. France. I claim no knowledge of who might go in next or why. I’m still scratching my head over the Rusty Wallace selection last year… and wondering if Raymond Parks will ever get the nod. Deep mysteries abound around that HOF.
PattyKay,
As a public school ‘heathen’ who attended catechism
every Tuesday afternoon,I am all too familiar with the nuns,the ruler and the scruff.
I think it’s a hoot we both we’re perplexed by Rusty Wallace’s enshrinement.I look forward to reading who is responsible for these ongoing travesties.I still miss Benny also.And I would not be averse to starting a petition.
Though it would most probably fall on deaf ears.
Mike, I will warn you, the list is quite diverse and contains the names of a lot of folks I like and respect, as I think, do you. Still, I might share ideas with you “off the air” sometime. Petitions are a waste of time and paper. Everything accomplished in this sport is done by voting… with the wallet. It works. I hope that folks have not missed that little factoid.
Benny Parsons was probably the most revered gentleman I have ever met. He would start a conversation with anyone; even me. I met him down at Tuson Raceway Park and it was as if he actually knew me.
Exactly Phil. Benny was the light of many lives, and just a joy to be around. One would think I’d be just another face in the crowd, but every spring race at Martinsville he looked for me and always made time to stop, laugh and Joke. Worried the heck out of my husband… and I let him go right on worrying. LOL
Benny will always be special, and I will go on missing him.
Benny Parson was, indeed, one fine gentleman. I remember the year he won the Daytona 500 and I talked to him that very afternoon after all the press interviews. He told me he won because The King pulled along in the draft. I was in the pits that day and saw Richard come by to pass Benny (Richard was laps down because of overheating) and waved at Benny. I thought Richard was being nice but Benny said Richard motioned him to tag his draft and go. And that they did.
As for the explanation of the qualifying, I appreciate the effort and although my remark about not understanding it was more in line with aggrevation from years past, I still have problems with the “transfer spot” talked about so often during the duals. Maybe this year will be different.
It is much different being retired now and being able to watch the duals on TV rather than trying to listen to them at work with all the interruptions and keeping the radio so low.
It is, in a way, back to the future. I do remember those duals from 1964 as if they were yesterday! Or tomorrow!.
Thanks for the refresher course.
Tim
Good afternoon Tim, and thanks so much for taking time to comment. Thanks also for giving me the base for a much needed column. I expected one from Cody, but it wasn’t forthcoming, so someone needed to write something quickly. I looked around and by golly, I was the only someone I saw, so I explained qualifying to you.
What they mean by the “transfer spot” is, a race for either 15th or 16th place in one of the Duels, depending on where the pole sitter is at the time. Remember, he is already in the race, so he doesn’t count twice. Each Duel will give us 16 places in the 500, the pole sitter (First or second place qualifier)and 15 additional spots. The last of those is the transfer spot in each of the Duels…the final car to transfer into the 500.
That’s the thing I’ve always loved most about the Dual Duels; there is a race for first and there is another race, well back in the pack, to MAKE that transfer spot. No one wants to be first man out. That hurts one’s pride! Did that come anywhere close to making it easier to understand? You know me… I will talk far beyond where there is a need to do so. Let me know. Maybe you can stay after school with Mike.
Makes perfect sense. Yeah. Right.
ARF
Jerry, you’re just full of it. I know for a fact that you understand it. Do I get an A for effort there Teacher?
WOOF!
I miss Benny also. He was one of a kind and was a kind person who never met a stranger. I liked the video link you attached. Thank you.
Daytona qualifying is looking better this year. I look forward to the duels. They actually race in those to make sure they get into the 500 and I just love it when real racing happens. I am looking forward to the race and hope it is a good one and there is no big one.
Hi Vivian! Thanks so much for taking time to leave a comment. Benny was indeed one of a kind. I have never met a soul that didn’t like him. Wish I could say the same for me. ~LOL
I put up the TNT tribute shown soon after Benny’s death, here on the stock car site, but for my personal one, I went shopping. All are good and all hit the mark, but that short one I picked was the one that “moved” me. As with my own writing, I tend to think if it makes me cry, it will do the same for others. I’ve no idea if that is a fair measure, but it’s the one I use. After all, I’m a girl, albeit a rather old one.
I always loved the Duels, maybe because I understood them. When they came with that “guarantee” disaster, it completely took away a reason for having them. They only filled 2 spots per race. My mind immediately filed that under, “So what?” I tend to look at things such as that and think, “What if I were a car owner?” and view it from that perspective. As an owner, you’d have to be crazy to look forward to racing and risking your car for those odds.
This year, once again I can’t wait for them. They have meaning once again, as they were intended to have. It’s not perfect. There is still no limit on the number of provisionals one team may use over a season, which still leaves a wide open door for the start and parkers to keep right on starting and parking. Next on the agenda? Possibly. For now, I am feeling good that we are shed of that silly rule without reason to exist, and the Duels have regained their importance.
PattyKay, thanks for the article. I did not see Benny on ESPN, but as a kid watching him on NBC, he was like an uncle that talked to me about racing. Him and my father are the reasons why I am a NASCAR fan, and I hope I can live a life with a personality that is half as good as Benny’s. Benny is probably my 2nd all-time favorite driver, behind Jeff Gordon. He should be a Hall of Famer, like you said, but I think Wallace got in at the right time. Thanks for the excellent article. By the way, as of the typing of this comment, there are only 36 days, 20 hours, 1 minute, and 13 seconds until the Daytona 500 (thanks Jayski).
Thank you Jason, for taking the time to comment. If all you saw of Benny was from NBC, I’ll have to send you a sympathy card. They managed to stifle so very much of who Benny was because of their silly attitude on sponsors and severely limiting what their announcers could and could not say. A wit like Benny should never be stifled. That’s like muffling Mark Twain, for goodness sake. If you strive to emulate Benny Parsons, you could not have picked a better man or role model.
As for Rusty, I would say that he for sure belongs in the Hall of Fame, but I simply don’t believe the timing was right here. I know they are trying to appease your generation by shortchanging mine and those even before. I predicted that would happen when they waited 60 years to even start a HOF and then limited admittance to 5 per year with no one grandfathered in.
As for the Daytona countdown, why are you running to Jay to find it? I put a countdown on our Main Page here and have another on my own page. I always know “what time it is.”