News and notes from Daytona 500 media day

ByBY BOB POCKRASS
February 14, 2015, 12:29 PM

A Tumultuous Offseason

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50 cars for 43 spots at Daytona

By Bob Pockrass

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Fifty drivers will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500, which means seven will go home following the qualifying races Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway.

The entry list, released Thursday afternoon, includes 44 anticipated full-time teams for the 2015 season and six part-time teams.

Qualifying for NASCAR's biggest race starts Sunday, as NASCAR moves to its group qualifying format to determine the Daytona 500 pole.

The 50 drivers will be split into two groups by random draw, and each group will have five minutes to qualify. The top 24 drivers on speed will advance to the next five-minute round, and then the top 12 will advance to the final five-minute round to determine the Daytona 500 front row as well as the lineups for the qualifying races Thursday.

Each of the Daytona 500 front-row drivers will start at the pole of his or her respective qualifying race, with those finishing in the odd positions Sunday in the first race and those in the even positions in the second race.

The top 15 finishers, not including the pole sitter, of each qualifying race Thursday advance to the Daytona 500 and will fill starting spots 3-32.

The next four spots (33-36) will be awarded to the fastest from group qualifying Sunday who did not make the field through the qualifying race. The final seven spots are provisionals based on 2014 car owner points, with one spot open for a past champion.

Technically, only seven drivers are guaranteed spots in the race, based on those owner points and a past champion provisional: Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Stewart Eager To Start

By Bob Pockrass

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Patrick 'disappointed' Super Bowl run ended

By Bob Pockrass

Danica Patrick's streak of consecutive years in a Super Bowl commercial ended at eight when GoDaddy pulled its original ad five days before the Feb. 1 game, due to complaints that it promoted puppy mills.

The fallout of the commercial was disappointing but not surprising for the NASCAR driver, who was set to appear in her 14th Super Bowl ad for her sponsor.

"I don't think anything in this culture surprises me anymore," Patrick said Thursday during Daytona 500 media day. "People have opinions about everything, and especially when you get into that world of animal rights or tree rights or whatever rights, they all have an opinion."

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The Champ Is Ready

By Bob Pockrass

2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick reflected on his title and how special it would be to capture another Daytona 500.

Brad K: Edwards 'the best driver'

By Bob Pockrass

\"Keselowski\"
Keselowski
Brad Keselowski was asked during Daytona 500 media day where he stacked up among Sprint Cup drivers. In pure Keselowski fashion, he gave a blunt assessment. At this time, he feels he's third, behind Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick. \"Carl Edwards is the best driver in Sprint Cup,\" Keselowski said. \"That is my personal opinion. It doesn't make it law or fact, but I think to go with that you could probably place an argument for Kevin as the second best. It is a bit subjective.\" Harvick won the 2014 Sprint Cup title. But Edwards, who struggled last year despite two wins, is the best? \"I have seen what Carl has done in cars that didn't have the speed,\" Keselowski said. \"He has a very diverse skill set. ... [He] has won at every type of track, and I feel like he does the best job of any driver I have seen out there at taking a car that is not fast and finding speed out of it. \"I think when the times have come that he has had dominant cars, he has showed dominant performances.\" As far as Keselowski's assessment of himself, he did say he wasn't a top-three driver every week. \"I feel like I am a top-three driver in the Sprint Cup Series,\" he said. \"I feel really good about my position week to week. Based on whether it is the track or rules changes, I feel like I can be either the best driver or all the way back to a 10th-place driver.\"

NASCAR clarifies some rules

By Bob Pockrass

NASCAR, which announced this past month that teams would not be allowed to flare the side skirts, released the penalty for that violation and other unapproved adjustments teams make during a race.

Teams who make unapproved adjustments under caution will have to come back in under caution, fix the car, restart at the rear of the field and then do a pass-through on pit road under green at pit-road speed.

Teams who make unapproved adjustments under green will have to come in under green and fix their cars to NASCAR's satisfaction.

If NASCAR identifies a crew member who makes the illegal adjustment, it will issue that person a warning on the first offense and increase the sanctions for additional offenses.

The procedure was released Thursday morning in a wide-ranging bulletin issued to teams.

NASCAR also put into writing what happens if two drivers tie at the finish of a race, a rarity considering the combination of NASCAR's timing system and cameras at the finish line typically allows NASCAR to determine finishing order.

If NASCAR can't break a tie, the driver who has led the most laps will be awarded the higher finish. If no driver has led a lap, the driver who spent the most laps in second will be higher. Then if still tied, whoever has run the most laps in third, then fourth, etc.

In another rule clarification, NASCAR put into writing that it could take away a driver's qualifying time if it determines the driver impacted the qualifying lap of another driver -- for instance, by coming off pit road and cutting in front of a driver already on the track during the group qualifying session.

Behind the wall

By Bob Pockrass

Funny faces with @KyleLarsonRacin #TrickySelfie #NASCAR #Daytona500 #MediaDay pic.twitter.com/AgE1d0lUDr

— Pocono Raceway (@poconoraceway) February 12, 2015
***

. @AJDinger still working his way through the #NASCARMediaDay process. Lots of folks to talk to! pic.twitter.com/bzH3R1hTQI

— JTG Daugherty Racing (@NASCAR47) February 12, 2015
***

Hanging out with @XFINITYRacing on the XFINITY couch! #BubbaTakeover pic.twitter.com/IYaXjh9WoH

— NASCAR XFINITY (@NASCAR_XFINITY) February 12, 2015
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