DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For 45 years in a row, the Wood Brothers race team had placed at least one car in the field for the Daytona 500.

That streak came to an end Thursday afternoon when driver Bill Elliott struggled to a 15th-place finish in the first Gatorade Duel at Daytona International Speedway. Elliott was fifth among the go-or-go-home cars that had not already qualified for this Sunday's 50th running of the 500 -- and only the top two in each of the two 150-mile Gatorade Duel races earned spots on the starting grid for the 500.

"I don't think there are words that can describe it, but that's life," Elliott said. "There will be days like this ... I'm just bummed out."

There hadn't been a day like this in the long history of Wood Brothers Racing, however. They fielded a car in 47 of the previous 49 Daytona 500 races, with the only two times they hadn't done so coming in 1960 and 1962 when they didn't send a car to attempt qualifying.

Team co-owner Eddie Wood tried to remain optimistic after Thursday's failure.

"I'm really proud of my guys, the whole group," he said. "Our race team is better than it was last year, by far. We don't have the results -- but our practice times and everything we did this week were better than what we've had in the past.

"It's hard being a single-car team like we are. We didn't make the Daytona 500, but we were here to attempt making the Daytona 500 -- and there are a lot of people who can't say that."

Elliott was placed in the position of having to race the organization's No. 21 Ford into this Sunday's show because the team failed to finish in the top 35 in owner's points last season, which would have guaranteed them a spot, and because Elliott failed to post a fast enough speed during qualifying last Sunday.

Yet Wood was reluctant to bash NASCAR's much-criticized rule for guaranteeing starting positions for the top 35 teams in owner's points.

"Everybody talks about the top 35 and what they need to do. But if I was running this show, I don't know what I'd do about it," he said. "I'm not saying anything against it. I was always brought up to say, 'If you can't make it better, don't say anything.' I wouldn't know what to say or how to change it or make it any different than what it is."

At the same time, Wood admitted that it places his team in a precarious position on a weekly basis during the 36-week Sprint Cup series race season. And even more so now for 2008, since they won't get any owner's points for competing in the season-opening event.

"That top-35 thing is just a night-and-day fight, day in and day out. This starts it," he admitted. "But we won't be alone. There is going to be company with us. You can't let it get the best of you, because it will. It will eat you alive. You just have to stand up and continue to do what you're doing because the worst thing you can do is panic. If you panic, you're done."

And Wood Brothers Racing is not done, he insisted. But he did admit that missing the Daytona 500 is a big blow, one that hurts deeply.

"The Daytona 500 is not just another race. It is the Daytona 500," he said. "To me, it's bigger than the Indy 500 and all that."

Wood said he would stick around for Sunday's running of the race.

"I'm going to be here," he said. "The car won't be. I don't know what that will feel like. But I'm sure it's going to be bad."