News and notes from Daytona 500 media day
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
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."
The ad featured a puppy falling out of a truck and finding its way home, only to find out it had been sold online. The puppy was put on a truck and driven away by Patrick in her cameo role.
Less than 24 hours after starting to promote the ad, GoDaddy opted to pull it amid criticism. It replaced the ad with another commercial that did not include Patrick.
"I was definitely disappointed I wasn't in the Super Bowl for a commercial, but I was in a Super Bowl commercial," Patrick said. "It just didn't run.
"GoDaddy had every intention to run that commercial, and I feel like I heard from a lot of people that it was choreographed, and it was planned [to pull the ad]. I think that's so funny. We thought it was a really funny, slightly left-side joke. But it really was not intentional."
Those who follow Patrick on social media know she has a dog named Dallas. She often tweets about the dog, and that, along with her minor role, possibly kept her from receiving the brunt of the criticism surrounding the commercial.
"I looked to find my dog online," she said. "I love my dog and take great care of her. I was up at 1:45 in the morning taking her out last night in the dark because she had to go out. She found a good home.
"So how bad can it really be? The Internet is a source for information, so it was really hard to find a miniature Siberian husky, but we found one."
Patrick, though, was supportive of GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving's decision to pull the ad.
"I feel like he made the most of the moment and showed the character of GoDaddy and of himself and said, 'Fine, we're not here to rock the boat, we're not here to make people angry, and we'll pull the commercial and run something else,'" Patrick said.
This and that ...
By Bob Pockrass
The Champ Is Ready
That #Daytona500 trophy tho: pic.twitter.com/rxo5Fo2XTM
The Champ Is Ready
By Bob Pockrass
Brad K: Edwards 'the best driver'
By Bob Pockrass
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
. @AJDinger still working his way through the #NASCARMediaDay process. Lots of folks to talk to! pic.twitter.com/bzH3R1hTQI
Hanging out with @XFINITYRacing on the XFINITY couch! #BubbaTakeover pic.twitter.com/IYaXjh9WoH
Hanging out with @XFINITYRacing on the XFINITY couch! #BubbaTakeover pic.twitter.com/IYaXjh9WoH