The Gatorade Duels Are In The Books; 'The Daytona 500' Lineup

The Gatorade Duels have been run, and the lineup for the Daytona 500 has been set for Sunday.

The first Duel saw some carnage and the second Duel was pretty benign with a last second pass for the win.  And Danica Patrick found the wall, hard, on the last lap of her Duel.  Plus Michael Waltrip having a solo-car spin and having a smack down with the wall.  Doh!

But drivers now in the Daytona 500, after all was said and done,  can relax and now focus on the task at hand, and that's getting set up to run the Great American Race.

Carl Edwards has the pole and Greg Biffle sits next to him on the front row.  We then see Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth in the 2nd row and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Regan Smith in row 3.

Ford leads the pack, with a Chevy on the inside of the 2nd row, while the first Toyota to show up on the starting grid is Joey Logano's, on the outside of row 6.

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Row #		Driver	Make		Driver	Make
1	-	Carl Edwards	Ford	-	Greg Biffle	Ford
2	-	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	-	Matt Kenseth	Ford
3	-	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	-	Regan Smith	Chevrolet
4	-	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	-	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
5	-	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	-	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet
6	-	Michael McDowell	Ford	-	Joey Logano	Toyota
7	-	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	-	Kyle Busch	Toyota
8	-	A.J. Allmendinger	Dodge	-	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
9	-	Robby Gordon	Dodge	-	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
10	-	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	-	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet
11	-	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	-	Mark Martin	Toyota
12	-	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	-	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet
13	-	David Ragan	Ford	-	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota
14	-	Aric Almirola	Ford	-	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet
15	-	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	-	Clint Bowyer	Toyota
16	-	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	-	Bobby Labonte	Toyota
17	-	David Gilliland	Ford	-	Joe Nemechek	Toyota
18	-	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	-	Casey Mears	Ford
19	-	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	-	David Reutimann	Toyota
20	-	Landon Cassill	Toyota	-	Trevor Bayne	Ford
21	-	Tony Raines	Ford	-	David Stremme	Toyota
22	-	Terry Labonte	Ford	-

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Danica Patrick finds herself starting on the inside of row 15 for the Daytona 500, but not without some excitement as she found herself wrecked and hitting the inside wall pretty hard.

Daytona 500 Qualifying Explained - I Think!

Some non fans ask why NASCAR has it's "Super Bowl" (the Daytona 500) at the front of the season instead of wrapping it up.  The only thing I can come up with is that it makes the anticipation for the new season so much more exciting than just starting the NASCAR season at just any track, but at the track that started it all!

(UPDATE Feb 2013: The format of qualifying below is from the 2012 season.  I've added the process for qualifying for the 2013 season over on my parent site.  The qualifying process is slightly different this year!  Check out Qualifying for the 2013 Daytona 500 at this site's parent website, Brusimm.com.)

It seems right.

Daytona starts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season with the 'Shootout at Daytona,' (on Feb 18, 2012).  That's just a fun event for fans.  After that race, we then have pole qualifying, followed by the 2 Gatorade Duels (Feb 23, 2012) to set the field for the Daytona 500, which takes place on Feb. 26, 2012 on FOX, at 1 p.m. ET.

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Qualifying Format for the Daytona 500

Unlike most races where everyone usually takes one day to compete in timed lap trials, teams have to fight for their starting position within the Daytona 500.

On Daytona 500 Qualifying Day, each team runs two laps, using the fastest lap as their qualifying time.  The two teams that set the fastest two times, become the front row starters for the Daytona 500.

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Gatorade Duels
After qualifying, are the Gatorade Duels, which are two 150-mile qualifying races. 

The top-35 in owners points from last year are placed in the field*, where teams with odd-numbered owner points are assigned to the first race, even numbered points, the other qualifying race.

The fields are further filled out with teams outside last year's top-35 in owners points, based on their qualifying day performance.

*Pole position for these races are given to the two cars that snagged the front row in qualifying.  Then the fields are allocated in their respective starting grid via the competitors qualifying speeds.

Is It Time To Run The Gatorade Duels On The Weekend?

As I watch the qualifying run for the Daytona 500, presently Martin Truex (pole) and Mark Martin on the front row as I write this.

I realize that if I want to watch the Gatorade Duels live, I need to figure out something out work wise so I can do this.

With NASCAR changing the practice rules, the drivers had a lot of time to make public appearances in the preceding weeks, I have to wonder if it's time to change the race schedule also?

What I mean by that is rather than having the qualifying runs today, should they have had them last weekend? In this way, we get our racing back on TV a week earlier. But more importantly, could they run the Gatorade Duels on a Saturday so we don't have to either play hooky, take a long lunch, or risk watching the streamed event at work?

I know I'm bucking tradition, but NASCAR is already doing that as they change the rules and cars and what not. I think it's time they think of the viewing audience for this one. I also think they should think of their precious advertisers return on the their dollar. I'd think it would be higher on a weekend than it would be during the week.

I'd like the Duels on a weekend. What do you think?