The Answer is Under the Hood
Daytona qualifying, Fords disadvantage at Daytona, and the Bud Shootout.
Daytona Qualifying .......... Jimmy Johnson
When the dust cleared after qualifying and the Winston Cup cars headed for the garage area, a rookie driver had won the Bud pole position for the Daytona 500 in only the third time in the track's history. Jimmy Johnson, the rookie driver of the new No. 48 Lowe's sponsored Gordon/Hendricks Motorsports' Chevrolet team, is the pole winner. The other two rookies that have won pole positions for the Daytona 500 are Loy Allen Jr. in 1994 and Mike Skinner in 1997.
Sitting next to Johnson on the front row will be Kevin Harvick, in the No. 29 Goodwrench sponsored Richard Childress Racings' Chevrolet. Another oddity about their winning of the front row positions for The Great American Race is that it was the first time that either of them had attempted to qualify for the race. Kevin Harvick did not race in the Winston Cup Series last season until the Rockingham event following the Daytona 500.
The first two positions are now etched in stone. This coming Thursday qualifying positions from three thru thirty will be decided with the running of the Gatorade Twin 125's. The drivers who logged odd number qualifying positions in Sunday's first round qualifying will be racing in the first of the Twin 125's and the even number qualifiers will race in the second 125 event. Only the first fourteen finishing positions from each of the Twin 125's will make the race. Starting positions thirty-one thru thirty-six will be determined by the qualifying speeds of those who made qualifying runs on Sunday, February 9th that did not finish in the top fourteen positions in the Twin 125's. Positions thirty-seven thru forty-two will be determined by the previous season's owner's points. The forty-third and final position is set aside for a past Winston Cup Champion. If there is not a past champion available, then the position will be awarded along with positions thirty-seven thru forty-two according to the previous season's owner's points.
Ford Disadvantage at Daytona........
As practice sessions got underway for the Daytona events, the Ford teams were still complaining that they were at a serious disadvantage in parity with the other models. A lot of people were quick to accuse the Ford teams of sandbagging. First round qualifying for the Daytona 500 told the story. The Ford teams were not sandbagging and were not exaggerating about the poor performance of the Ford model racecars. The Fords were not up to speed with the rest of the field. Dale Jarrett, driving the No. 88 UPS sponsored Robert Yates Racing's Ford, qualified in the ninth position at the time that he ran, but he was relegated back to thirteenth as others qualified with better speeds ahead of him. There was another Ford that qualified in the top twenty, Ricky Rudd, driving the No. 28 Havoline sponsored Robert Yates Racing's Ford ended up in the fifteenth position. After qualifying, the Ford teams once again complained to NASCAR that they needed more aerodynamic help before the running of the Daytona 500. It is doubtful that NASCAR will make any further changes to the Fords until after the first of the week. By this time, they will have had the opportunity to observe the video recordings of the Bud Shootout to determine the Fords actions during the race. And then you have Geoffrey Bodine, who was the fastest in the final Bud Shootout practice in a Ford with a drafting speed of 186.788 MPH? Go figure.........
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