DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- They were furious finishes, each of them decided by a fraction of a second, with cars stacked high and deep charging to the line. And yet, there was something else evident in Thursday's qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway.

Patience.

“

I saw a lot of people in that qualifying race that I was in who were exercising very good judgment.

”

-- CARL EDWARDS

"I saw a lot of people in that qualifying race that I was in who were exercising very good judgment," Carl Edwards said. "I mean, driving right to the edge. It looked like disaster was going to happen, and then all of a sudden everything would work out, and somebody would give and somebody would take. It ended up being a very good balance and I think no matter how loose NASCAR's rules become on the race track, I think there's only a certain limit you'll see everybody go to, and that's right at the limit of disaster, and that's where we'll race."

But will we see that same, judicious use of restraint in Sunday's Daytona 500? It certainly was in short supply early in these Speedweeks, the first few days of which were characterized by accidents and aggression before a sense of calm settled in toward the end. The season-opening Budweiser Shootout, and the practices leading up to it, saw no shortage of crashes as drivers familiarized themselves with both the new restrictor plate and the old practice of unlimited bump-drafting. Then there were the Duel 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday, where cars went sideways, drivers went three-wide, the finishes were fabulous -- and most everyone came home unscathed.

Saturday's final Cup practice session was similarly clean, unfolding without any major incidents. Will this Great American Race, coming on the heels of many competitive rule changes suggested by the drivers themselves, usher in a new era of restrictor-plate cooperation?

Maybe that's going a little too far. But it's clear that even in the midst of tight, competitive racing on Thursday, drivers kept their heads. Now it's a matter of seeing whether they can do it for 500 miles in NASCAR's biggest race. (Continued)