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Back in the hunt

New Dodge teams brace for their chance to qualify

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Bill Elliott finished in 20th place after Friday's first practice at Daytona International Speedway. AP

By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- That huge sigh you heard Friday was all those Dodge people out there. Their engines didn't blow up in the first honest-to-goodness day of Winston Cup practice at Daytona International Speedway, and the teams ran fairly well.

That big sucking in noise you hear today is them, again, as they brace for the Winston Cup qualifying run that will determine who grabs the first two spots in the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.

"We've turned a corner to really begin the racing program," Dodge vice president Lou Patane said. "There's a tremendous amount of competitive pressure out there from other manufacturers and teams."

Winston Cup drivers will run two qualifying laps today, starting at 1 p.m. ET, to determine the first two spots for the 500. The twin Gatorade 125 races next Thursday will determine positions 3-30. The rest of the field is filled out through qualifying times (there's another two-lap qualifying run Monday) and provisional spots.

If Friday's practice is any indication, the Dodges should be in there somewhere. In the first practice in the morning, three of the five fastest speeds and four of the Top 10 were produced by Dodges driven by Stacy Compton, Ward Burton, Sterling Marlin and John Andretti.

In the afternoon session, those four drivers all slowed a little. But, with lots of tinkering going on and most cars going without their qualifying motors, the one thing that is clear is that nothing is clear yet.

There is, everyone knows, lots of work to be done.

"[Saturday] isn't the last day. We've still got next Thursday to get in the race," said owner Ray Evernham, who has veteran Bill Elliott and rookie Casey Atwood running Dodge Intrepids. "I'm happy with the Dodges overall. I feel good about [Saturday]."

But it's not time to exhale yet.

Storylines We're Following

The Top Two How important is it to start in the front row for the Daytona 500? Four of the last 10 Daytona 500 winners came from the front row, and 16 of the 42 Daytona winners (38 percent) overall have started there. If you can't get in the top two, though, getting in the Top 10 is critical. Every one of the last 10 Daytona 500 winners started from the Top 10, and 34 of 42 (81 percent) winners of all Daytona 500 races started there. The other guys The Daytona 500 qualifying isn't the only thing happening at the track today. The Goody's Dash Series ACDelco 200 is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET. It's not Winston Cup, but it can be competitive and fun. Certainly worth watching. Aerodynamics After last year's snoozer of a Daytona 500 -- only nine lead changes, remember -- NASCAR implemented a new aerodynamics package that consists, mainly, of a strip across the car's roof and a wider real spoiler. Coupled with a larger restrictor plate opening, the changes are supposed to make it easier to catch up to the pack if a car finds itself all alone out there. We'll see.

Our New Favorite Driver

Stacy Compton Ran well in practice, gave up an engine to another Dodge team in practice Friday, gave Bill Elliott his No. 9 back. What a guy.

Bandwagon

Matt Kenseth Last year's Rookie of the Year had slow start in practices Friday Dodges Too early to tell, but at least their feet are now wet Andy Houston He practiced best of any of the rookies Friday The aero package If it improves on last year's 500, we're all for it Bandwagoneers We still have more than a week to go, folks! The Bottom Line Today's qualifying will tell us a little more about how competitive the Daytona 500 field will be, with the new aero package and the Dodge entries and all. But we'll know even more about both those questions when the new 70-lap Budweiser Shootout is contested Sunday. And then the twin 125s next week. We're only starting to warm up here at the beach.

 

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