Reality began to sink in on Saturday for the myriad new teams attempting to make the Daytona 500 field. The top-35 cars in 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup owner points are locked into the 500, meaning 22 other drivers will be fighting for the remaining eight spots.
And with one of those reserved for Tony Stewart, who will make the race either on merit or by virtue of being the most recent past champion, that leaves 21 drivers for seven spots.
A handful of go-or-go-homers looked good in the opening day of Daytona 500. Two-time 500 winner Bill Elliott, who will have to race his way into the field, was atop the speed charts for most of the day in his Wood Brothers Racing Ford, finishing both sessions in P1.
The best looking of the start-up teams was Scott Riggs in Tommy Baldwin’s Toyota, which was 16th overall in the first session and third among the go-or-go-home cars. Joe Nemechek also was impressive in his own NEMCO Motorsports Toyota, which was 25th overall and fourth of the go-or-go-home cars.
But for many of the new kids on the block, practice was a sobering exercise in how far behind they are. In the first of two rounds of practice Saturday, positions 46-57 were all occupied by go-or-go-home teams. In the second practice, everyone from 47th on back were go-or-go-homers, too.
How bad was it? The first 30 cars in the opening round of practice were separated by a mere 0.473 seconds around the 2.5-mile track. The gap from 31st to 56th, on the other hand, was 4.582 seconds. A lot of guys who came to Daytona with high hopes will leave with their dreams dashed after Thursday’s Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races.
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