Scott Speed left no doubt that he's ready for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup after locking up a spot in the Daytona 500 field with a superb performance in Saturday's qualifying.
The No 82 Red Bull Toyota driver arrived in Florida without a guaranteed starting spot in Sunday's Great American Race, but he quickly ended the uncertainty with a sizzling run in qualifying that locked him into the field for this year’s Daytona 500.
His speed of 189.958mph in 47.429s around the 2.5-mile tri-oval Daytona International Speedway was just 1.230mph and 0.305s behind the pole winner Mark Martin.
“Getting in on speed and not having to race your way in – that’s ideal,” Speed commented. “Even if you’re fast, the 150s can go either way. You can get involved in something that's not even your own fault and not qualify for the Daytona 500.”
"Getting in on speed and not having to race your way in – that’s ideal." –Scott Speed
Daytona’s qualifying format sees the cars go through a timed session a week before the race. The results set the grid for two 150-mile duel races that determine the starting line-up for the 500. The drivers in the top 35 in owner points from 2009 automatically get a bye into the Daytona 500, no matter what happens in the pair of duels, as well as the top three qualifying drivers not guaranteed a starting position in the race.
Sophomore Sprint Cup driver Speed finished one spot short of the top 35 in owner points last season, which means he must drive his way into the 43-car field on speed for each of the first five races of 2010.
So, he can’t afford to make a mistake in qualifying until the series gets to stop number six in Martinsville on March 28, or he’ll miss a race. Daytona qualifying also saw two other drivers in Speed’s position, Joe Nemechek and Bill Elliott, snatch spots on the grid.
Speed can push harder in his duel on Thursday and help deliver a higher grid position on Sunday because he doesn’t have to worry about missing the party should something go wrong.
Getty Images/Red Bull Photofiles
“On Thursday, you’re still running your good car and you don't want to crash, but you’re certainly going to be able to push it a little more and not be quite as cautious if you're already in the race – no question,” Speed explains.
A better starting position also helps Speed in the restrictor plate race where big crashes often wreak havoc on the tightly-grouped packs behind the leaders. Simply put, the higher a driver is in the field, the less likely it is that he’ll get tangled up in the expected “Big One” wreck.
Speed’s luxury came after some hard work by the No 82 crew to turn things around after the car struggled in practice. Speed finished the session 23rd, almost half a second off the pace of the leaders. But the team found more than 3mph in the car between practice and qualifying to deliver a top-15 result.
“I could tell [crew chief] Jimmie [Elledge] was real nervous with us having to qualify in here on time,” Speed said. “We weren't so quick [in practice]. The guys made a lot of good decisions before qualifying, and it looks like it's paid off, because we picked up more than we expected.”
"The guys made a lot of good decisions before qualifying, and it looks like it's paid off." –Scott Speed
After qualifying for the race, Speed handed his car to Ken Schrader on Saturday night for the Budweiser Shootout, where the veteran finished 14th. The invitation-only Shootout exhibition is open to the 12 Chase qualifiers and Cup Rookie of the Year from the previous season, all Sprint Cup champions, and former winners of regular season NASCAR races at Daytona and previous Shootout champs. Twenty-four drivers competed in the race this year.
Speed's Sprint Cup teammate Brian Vickers kept his No 83 Red Bull Toyota in contention for most of the 75 laps and ended the event eighth after surviving a penultimate lap pile-up involving most of the leaders. Triggered by a flat rear tire on Greg Biffle’s car, the crash took out eight competitors and forced officials to end the action under caution.
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