Quartet Of Hopefuls See Daytona 500 Dreams Fall Short

Chandler Smith (66) crashes out of the first Duel at Daytona Thursday night. (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For four Daytona 500 hopefuls, their dreams of competing in the 67th running of the Great American Race were dashed Thursday night following the Duel qualifying races at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

The twin 60-lap qualifying events featured a combined 45 entries – the most in 10 years for NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl – with a blend of legends, veterans and dreamers headlining the nine open, non-chartered entries.

After seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and recently retired Martin Truex Jr. locked into the Daytona 500 on speed during single-car qualifying, it left Chandler Smith, Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, J.J. Yeley, Justin Allgaier and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves to fend for the final two spots on the starting grid.

In what were two chaotic Duels, Smith, Alfredo and Castroneves were the only open drivers whose cars fully succumbed to the casualties of catastrophe at the World Center of Racing.

On lap 15 of the opening qualifier, Smith was running third, when he made an error in judgment that ended in disaster.

The full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver – who replaced Mike Wallace in the No. 66 for Carl Long’s Garage 66 team – attempted to close a gap that wasn’t there to his inside, sending him off the nose of Justin Haley’s Chevrolet and head on into the turn two wall.

It sparked a multi-car accident, ending his night as well as Castroneves’, Haley’s, and others, but Smith owned up to his miscue after being checked and released from the infield care center.

“It was a hard lick,” Smith said. “It was the hardest lick I’ve taken in my life, for sure. I hate it for all the guys involved, because I couldn’t see out of my left side mirror; my digital mirror wasn’t working, so I honestly didn’t know 100 percent where the 7 (Haley) was. The last I heard in my ear, (he) was getting ready to start coming back inside … so I went back down to try and block it, but obviously just made a bad judgment call.

“That’s completely on me. Super upset with myself over that one and there are a lot of really good race cars that got torn up tonight that didn’t need to be,” Smith continued. “Really, really appreciative of Garage 66 and QuickTie Products giving me an opportunity to attempt the Daytona 500 again and try to make it in, and thankful again for the safety group that took the precautions to make sure I was OK.”

Among the other drivers collected in the eight-car pileup was Yeley. The No. 44 took a shove from Duel No. 1 winner Bubba Wallace while riding on the apron, causing a left-side impact that sent Yeley’s Chevy spinning over the drastic track transition.

The damage wasn’t enough to knock Yeley out of the race. In fact, Yeley gave eventual transfer driver Allgaier a good run for his money on the white-flag lap before getting trapped in the pack and having to settle for a 17th-place finish.

“These cars, the bodies are very temperamental,” Yeley said after failing to make the Daytona 500 for N.Y. Racing. “The draft, (you) get such a run that it just kind of depends what the speed looks like. The steering was still okay. I mean, the car did ricochet off the apron really, really hard. That's typically what these cars do when they bottom out. I just didn't quite have enough to keep those guys at bay. Guess we'll have to try again next year.”

Outside of Smith, the only other open driver that had to retire from either Duel was Castroneves. Fortunately for the four-time Indy 500 champ, he has the Open Exemption Provisional to fall back on, guaranteeing him a start in the Daytona 500 as a 41st starter due to his elite status in motorsports.

Duel No. 2 wasn’t much of a competition, after LaJoie powered his way to a sixth-place finish, while McLeod was a non-factor.

Anthony Alfredo (62) crashes on the final lap of the second Duel at Daytona Thursday night. (Danny Hansen/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Alfredo put together a relatively competitive run driving for Beard Motorsports, but got trapped in the middle of the pack in the later stages of the qualifier and wound up getting taken out in a five-car incident on the final lap.

After the race, the Ridgefield, Conn., driver was disappointed that he couldn’t position himself closer to the front to make a better run at the lock-in position.

“It was just gridlock at the end,” Alfredo lamented. “We were really outnumbered. Before the final caution, we put ourselves in a great spot with some Chevy teammates after green-flag pit stops to make a run to the front, and the timing of the yellow took them out of (contention) too. Our green-flag stop and everything went smoothly. It was honestly a flawless night, from my seat, until the very end.

“I drove to the front by myself and put myself in good position and felt like we executed well. Just didn’t have help at the end … and when I tried to make a move because I had to, we just fell back. It’s a bummer.”

Creating two sides of a coin, Smith, Yeley, McLeod, and Alfredo leave the Cup Series garage early, while Allgaier, LaJoie and Castroneves join Johnson and Truex as the open teams to advance into the Great American Race.

For the 41 drivers who remain, it’s time to see what they make of the opportunity. For the four who have loaded up already, it’s a long year’s wait until 2026.

The 67th running of the Daytona 500 airs on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.