By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It all comes down to this.
Just two spots remain up for grabs in the starting lineup for Sunday’s 65th running of the Daytona 500, with four drivers looking to punch their ticket into the Great American Race on Thursday night in the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona.
Six drivers came into the week needing to either post a quick time in single-car qualifying or race their way in through the Duels, but last night seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and action sports superstar Travis Pastrana locked up their spot in Sunday’s main event.
That leaves defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith, Truck regular Chandler Smith, Xfinity Series regular Austin Hill, and NTT IndyCar Series regular Conor Daly to battle it out for the final two spots.
Zane Smith and Chandler Smith will face off in the first of the two Duel races, with each driver coming off a vastly different qualifying night less than 24 hours ago.
Zane, driving the No. 36 entry for Front Row Motorsports, posted the third fastest single car time among the drivers not locked in, giving him at least a couple of laps of track time in his Ford.
“Crazy… especially when it’s your first lap is qualifying, and that one is going to go by pretty quickly,” Zane said of heading into the Duels with limited track time. “Pretty much your second lap is going to be in the Duels. Hopefully we qualify on-time, but who knows?
“Regardless, I know, FRM has always shown strength on Superspeedways and the Fords have always shown strength with how well they work together. Hopefully we can be in a Duel with a lot of Fords and transfer in.”
Meanwhile, Chandler was not so lucky as a mechanical issue precluded him from making a lap in qualifying in his Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, so when the green flag drops on Thursday night, that will be the first laps he will have on the Daytona high banks.
“Kaulig Racing has got a really good track record as plate racers as an organization,” Chandler said. “From Xfinity over to Cup, they’ve been pretty solid. They’re still really green to the Cup Series, so we haven’t built up that portfolio that we have in the Xfinity Series as far as the reputation as being strong on plate races, but it’s definitely got really good over the past few years they’ve been in the series.
“For me, I know if I make it into the race, it’s going to be good. I just need…
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