How the Daytona 500 Duel races set the lineup and starting positions — and how to watch

Thursday night, NASCAR Cup drivers will compete in one of two Twin Duel Races to set the final lineup and starting order for Sunday’s Daytona 500. The superspeedway race is limited to just 40 entrants, so three drivers on the track Thursday will not make the final cut.

Duel No. 1 was set to kickoff at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, but a rain delay pushed the start time over an hour.

HOW THE LINEUP WORKS

There are 36 drivers with NASCAR charters, which guarantees them a spot in the big race. Two of those four remaining spots are determined by the fastest qualifying speed last Sunday. Those spots went to Justin Haley and Brendan Gaughan, who are driving for non-charter teams, so expect them to race safely on Thursday night to ensure they compete this Sunday.

There are also five “open” cars looking to land in the final two spots. This is where the Twin Duels really matter. The best finishing open driver from each duel gets those bids.

Daniel Suarez, Reed Sorenson and Chad Finchum are the open drivers racing in Duel No. 1, which starts at 7:00 p.m. Thursday on FS1. JJ Yeley and Timmy Hill are the other group of open racers in Duel No. 2, which has an estimated start time of around 8:45 p.m.

Haley and Gaughan are also racing. If they finish as the top open cars in their respective Duels, then Sorenson and Hill fill the final two spots based on speed.

DUELS MATTER FOR CHARTER TEAMS

The twin duels also determine the starting order for Sunday’s race. Duel No. 1 will feature 22 cars, and Duel No. 2 will have 21 cars. The qualifying session last Sunday already locked in the front row for the Daytona 500 and determined the starting order for this evening.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the pole position for the Daytona 500 with a qualifying time of 46.253 seconds. Alex Bowman will start second (46.305 seconds).

The finishing order of Duel No. 1 will make up the inside line in odd positions. This means the winner of Duel No. 1 will start third (followed by fifth, seventh, onward). The finishing order of Duel No. 2 will make up the outside line (fourth, sixth, eighth, onward).

DUELS FORMAT

The Twin Duels run a 60-lap, 150-mile race around the Daytona International Speedway. There are no stages within either race, but drivers will have to make at least one pit stop since the fuel window is under 60 laps.

The races award championship points to the top 10 finishers. The winner of each will receive 10 points. The second-place drivers will earn 9 points and so on (down to one point for 10th place).

THE LINEUPS

Duel No. 1 lineup (by starting position)

Duel No. 2 lineup (by starting position)

*Bolded drivers are in open cars.

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 3:14 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription