Daytona 500's locked-in trio feel relief, get focused

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Trust me, a 190-plus mph lap around Daytona International Speedway gets your attention in spades -- and that's if everything is pointed in the right direction and running smoothly.

So just imagine what thoughts might be trying to inject themselves into your extremely focused mind while you're concentrating on that lap -- if in the back of your mind you're considering just how critical cutting a fast one is.

Watch the Duel

The two 150-mile qualifying races will determine the starting lineup for the Daytona 500.

• 2 p.m. ET Thursday on SPEED

So how about if you came to Speedweeks with a six-figure bill of expenses -- before your car ever turned a wheel on the track. That's pressure, I think.

For the 18 drivers who're entered in the $18.5 million Daytona 500, but have only seven starting positions available to them due to NASCAR's restrictive top-35 owners' points lock-in system, the Great American Race's qualifying procedure is excruciating.

And that's putting it mildly.

And so for three guys in that group this past Saturday, who smashed their way out of that restrictive envelope to lock themselves into the 500, with its accompanying quarter-mil payoff, Daytona's garage was almost heaven on earth.

Joe Nemechek, Daytona track record holder Bill Elliott and second-year Sprint Cup driver Scott Speed were the three guys who locked themselves into the field, joining the top 35 from the 2009 owners' points and 2000 Cup champion Bobby Labonte, who's in no matter what happens via a past champion's provisional.

If you looked at their words on paper, the emotion just oozed in flavors that soared beyond black and white. If you saw them this past Saturday, the relief -- the pure ecstasy -- was obvious. (Continued)