From a NASCAR Fan’s View
This will be an exciting end to the week as the NASCAR Cup teams take it to the Daytona International Speedway starting with the Duels at Daytona for 2025. This is the 67th running of the “Great American Race” and the Duels, at least to this fan, are the first real races of the season.
I know there are those that will disagree with me and that’s okay but, let me remind you. These two races decide the lineup for the big race on Sunday, the Daytona 500. Yeah, I know the first two spots in the lineup are determined by the fastest two qualifiers in the qualifying time trials and that would be Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric. The rest of the field’s lineup is determined by the way the drivers finish in the Duels. It is a weird way to qualify for a race but then it is Daytona and it has been this way.
I don’t know how to say this without it sounding a little biased but the Toyotas have shown up with speed this year for the 500 and the JGR #19 Toyota driven by Chase Briscoe was fastest in round one of qualifying and finished off round two at the top of the chart taking the pole position. He will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday afternoon unless something happens to mess that up for him.
The Fords also looked to have speed for the single car type qualifying and that does say something about how they might do in the Duels. Not all of the Fords looked to have the speed of some of the others but, it is interesting how things worked out for the qualifying. Now, even though there were some fast times laid down by them, only one, Austin Cindric is guaranteed to start up front unless something happens to mess that up for him.
I don’t know how he and Chase will approach the duels and I haven’t heard as of this writing but, it is very possible they will not even run in the Duels since they are already starting on the front row. They may choose not to run to protect their cars from possibly getting caught up in someone else’s problem in the Duels. They already have good speed and nothing really left to prove before the start of the 500.
Probably the biggest surprise to this fan was that the Hendrick Chevys seemed to be lacking their usual qualifying speed for this year’s 500. The stats say they had started on the pole for the last eight of ten years. For them not to be on the front row, or even close for that matter, is a little unusual and really not what this fan expected.
I don’t think it was what the Hendrick garage expected either. In my opinion, they have some work to do before the race on Sunday afternoon. In fact, I think all of the Chevys have some work to do to catch up to the speed of the some of the Toyotas and Fords.
There is one more important thing to bring up about the Duels. What will happen in the Duels? They aren’t just about speed. They’re a test of strategy, teamwork and whether or not to press for the win or just drive hard enough to make it to the big show on Sunday. Pushing to hard could affect the possibilities of their success or failure in the big show and the draft, pit strategy and split-second decision making will all come into play as the two Duels progress.
So, rather than just keep on talking about things that could happen or even things we might like to see what happen, it’s time to put this thing in the bin and get ready to see what the Duels hold for the 2025 Daytona 500. On to the Duels and beyond for the 67th running of the 2025 Daytona 500…
Hey, this is Russ and that’s my view… See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© February 13, 2025 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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