Duel races mean two chances for drivers to win coveted trophies
On the heels of the new NASCAR Charter system announcement, some fans have been asking me how this might or might not affect how teams run the Can-Am Duel qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway this Thursday.
Honestly, I don't think we'll see any difference in the least. We've always had teams who knew they were locked into the Daytona 500 -- either from being on the front row after qualifying or knowing their qualifying speeds were fast enough or by knowing they were safe based on where they were in the points
At the same time, we've always had a number of teams, with this year being no exception, who know they had to be on their game if they wanted to make it into the Daytona 500 field through their Duel qualifying race. Unfortunately when the dust settles and the second Duel race is over tomorrow, there will be four teams headed back home -- missing not only the first race of the season, but also our biggest race of the year.
Now sure, if you are one of those 36 Charter teams that know you are locked into the Daytona 500, you want to be a little bit cautious in your Duel race. You certainly hope and pray you don't tear up your primary car for the Daytona 500.
But you know what? That risk has always been there. I was very blessed in my crew-chief days that I never had those sleepless nights that some have had to endure, not knowing if they were going to be in or not the Daytona 500. I have, however, had those sleepless Wednesday nights however worrying about whether our primary car was going to come out of the Duel races in one piece.
At the same time, you have to come to peace at some point that things like that are out of your control. Let's face it, it's a race. When the green flags wave on Thursday for those two races, those drivers know only two things -- it's a race and there's a trophy going to the winner. Trust me; they want to be that winner.
Where there is a Victory Lane, well, there is a driver who wants to be the only one in it.
As Darrell Waltrip, my NASCAR FOX broadcast partner for 16-plus years, has been known to say: "There are some desperate people out there on that track and desperate people will do desperate things."
Well, sometimes it does work out for them -- but then again most times it doesn't. So I really don't know if this new NASCAR Charter system really changes the complexity of the Duel races at all.
What I do know is that Thursday night brings us two races and two trophies with a boatload of drivers wanting to win them.
