From a NASCAR Fan’s View
The last NASCAR race was the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, but the real regular season starts this week at Daytona. The first races that count for anything towards this NASCAR season are the “Fresh From Florida” 250 Duels. As we all already know, this is the way the lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500 is finalized. There is nothing more important than the two races tonight before Sunday’s race. This will make or break it for several drivers, as there are more cars than spots available.
So far, the way things have gone for practice and qualifying, anything can happen. Most of the practice was done as single-car runs. Even though there were times when some drivers were joined by others, which gave them bad information for their possible qualifying runs, but it may have indirectly told them a little about how they might run in the draft. Whether that will be important for tonight will become obvious as the races go on. In other words, we won’t know much at all until the 250s are run.
I find it interesting that Kyle Bush won the pole for Sunday’s race and will be joined on the front row by last year’s pole winner, Chase Briscoe. Kyle Bush has been trying to win a Daytona 500 for many years, and this fan has to wonder if this might be the year. After all, Dale Earnhardt Sr. finally won one after seventeen years or so. That’s a long time to wait to win the most important race to drivers and teams in NASCAR.
The way the Duels are run makes it hard for a fan to do much towards predicting the winners and losers, or in other words, the ones that will make the 500 and those that won’t. Many are already in it. They’re just racing to see where they will line up in the main event. The others are racing to make the big show, and that is their only way in.
So far, all I’ve been telling you is stuff you likely already know or, possibly, don’t care. You just want to watch the races and see just how things turn out. There is always the risk that someone with a good chance of winning the 500 will crash out in one of the Duels and have to use a backup car. Often, the problem with that is the car they wrecked was their best bullet, and the other car may not match up in enough ways to finish where they might have. Then again, the opposite could also be true. They wreck their best bullet and find the spare bullet was better suited to this year’s racing, and they finish much better than they might have. We’ve all probably seen it go both ways over the years. At least, I know I have.
So rather than do a lot of speculating on who will win or who will lose, I think I will just mention a few that I think will be there at the end of tonight’s two races.
First, there is Cory Heim. He is qualified in third starting spot in the first Duel. This could prove to be interesting, and there is a possibility he could win this one. That would be a shocker to this fan, but I just can’t rule out the possibility. Of course, he is up against some pretty stiff competition like Kyle Bush, Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, and Joey Logano. That should make things interesting for all involved in the first Duel.
In the second Duel, Justin Allgaier is up against some very strong competition in Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, amongst others. That will also be an interesting race, and the only reason I use Heim and Allgaier is that there is nothing I would like better than to see at least one of these two win their Duels. Aw, heck, why not just pull for both of them to win their Duels? That would really be something to see and not really all that far-fetched.
Yeah, I know I’m just a dreamer, but why not expect the unexpected?
Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© February 12, 2026 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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