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How to qualify for the Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - The qualifying procedure for the Daytona 500 is a unique and complicated process that began Sunday with Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip locking in the front row starting positions in the 43-car field.

All 53 drivers who made qualifying attempts Sunday earned starting positions in one of two 150-mile qualifying races Thursday.

2007 Daytona 500 Winner - Car Racing Odds

On Sunday, February 18, 2007 in the season opening Daytona 500, Harvick claimed his first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victory in a restrictor plate race with a dramatic final lap pass over Mark Martin by .020 seconds in a green-white-checkered finish, the closest margin at the 500 since electronic scoring started in 1993. The race was on the sixth anniversary of the death of his predecessor at Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt. He would become only the fourth NASCAR driver to sweep both the Busch and Cup races in the opening weekend at Daytona (along with Bobby Allison (1988), Darrell Waltrip (1989), and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004) ).

Harvick also tied Benny Parsons for the fewest number of laps led by a Daytona 500 winner, who did it in 1975 (the year Harvick was born) with four laps. He started 34th (lowest ever by a winner at the track), and became the first Busch Series Champion to win the Daytona 500 the following year. With the win, Harvick also became only the sixth driver to win both the Daytona 500 and the prestigous Brickyard 400 joining Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott and Jimmie Johnson.

Daytona 500 - Event Description

The 200-lap, 500 mile Daytona 500 race is run at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida. The Speedway was opened in 1959 and the Daytona 500 has been held there every year since. This year, from the 15th through the big race on the 18th, Speedweeks features traditional action-packed races - like the Gatorade Duel - to decide starting positions before the big race which, in 2007, will be televised on Feb. 18.

The race begins later than the traditional mid-day start time this year, with pre-race festivities beginning at 3:30PM ET and the race beginning about 4PM ET, making it the first time that the race will be ending after sundown.