DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Neither of Jimmie Johnson’s Daytona 500 wins came by virtue of a last-lap pass. Thursday night, facing a desperation scenario just to reach the “Great American Race” field, he converted one.
Johnson recovered from a late-race crash and placed his non-chartered No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota into the 40-car field for Monday’s Daytona 500 (4 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), finishing 12th in the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying race and foiling J.J. Yeley’s heavy-underdog bid for one of the final starting berths. Yeley wound up 16th in his No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, bringing a sour end to an 11th-hour partnership that materialized just days earlier.
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“That was way more pressure than I ever wanted,” Johnson told his No. 84 team over radio communications on the cool-down lap. “Good job, guys. Thank you.”
Johnson was behind Yeley at the white-flag lap at Daytona International Speedway, rallying only in the final stretch after his frantic pleas for help in the aerodynamic draft were finally answered with a late push from Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Toyota. Yeley’s car drifted up the track through the final set of corners, making an evasive move when Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet slowed dramatically after a stack-up near the front.
That’s when Johnson pounced, with Truex settling in behind him to cement the results and allay his worst fears.
“I’m like, I’m not going to make it, not going to make the Daytona 500. I’m going to have to call all our partners. I’m going to have to stand in the suite during the 500 and shake hands, not drive a car,” said Johnson, now a part-timer behind the wheel and a full-timer as a minority owner of Legacy M.C. “This is running through my mind as I’m catching him. I have to figure out a way. An almost-wreck happens, leave it on the floor, hope for the best. Just went the other direction than J.J.’s car, and it worked out.”
The final spot in the Daytona 500 field went to Kaz Grala, who warded off BJ McLeod in Thursday’s second 150-mile qualifier for the final berth reserved for Open, non-chartered cars. Fellow Open drivers Anthony Alfredo and David Ragan both locked in their starting spots by virtue of their posted speeds in Wednesday night’s pole qualifying session.
The position was an unfamiliar one for the seven-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer, who needed to gut out a Hail Mary performance to make the first — and most important — of nine races he plans to run this year. Johnson appeared to have clear sailing early on, reaching as high as third place in the first half and keeping his distance ahead of Yeley in the running order.
After a pit-stop exchange, Johnson was mired back in the field when a jam-up involving Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon and defending 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. snared his No. 84 ride. Johnson kept rolling without significant contact, but after a pit stop, was now back behind Yeley and out of the transfer position.
His voice grew more and more frenzied as the laps ticked down, and Johnson and his team begged for teammate Erik Jones to drop back to offer a much-needed push. He rode side-by-side with Yeley, who made his best blocking efforts to keep his 500 hopes intact.
Only after his final-lap rally was Johnson able to exhale. After he dismounted from his car, he walked over to Yeley’s car parked behind his on pit road and shook his hand.
“I was blocking the best I could,” said Yeley, who indicated he was contacted Monday by NY Racing management for the No. 44 ride. “He kind of got me a little sideways down front straightaway. I mean, I’m racing for my life. Obviously, he’s just racing for another Daytona 500. So to me, it was David versus Goliath. But like I said, at the end, he just had more friends coming to the checkered and it was enough for us.”
Johnson said he woke up Thursday with a low-stress morning. Strategies had been ironed out, a Toyota game plan was in place, and optimism was high. He had never failed to qualify in any of his 689 Cup Series start attempts, but his mind rewound back to his lone career DNQ — a 2000 miss, at Daytona no less, to start off his first full Xfinity Series season. It was a flashback he hoped would not be a premonition.
“I’ve never been through anything like this,” Johnson said. ” … To fight like we did in those closing laps, I mean, I’ve only done that for a race win here. Never had that level of anxiety and fight for a Duel or anything else except for a proper win.”
Grala made his own Cinderella run in the second 150-miler. He entered the weekend as the third entry from the Front Row Motorsports stables but was the only driver who did not post a lap in Wednesday’s qualifying session, his No. 36 Ford unable to gain speed. A loose bolt had caused the shifter rod to disconnect from the transmission, and he over-revved the engine as he struggled to put the car in gear as it limped around the apron. With fixes made, Grala’s pace was just enough to keep McLeod at bay in the closing laps and seal his third Daytona 500 appearance.
“Yeah, just really proud of the Front Row Motorsports guys because the last 24 hours were pretty stressful, a lot of hard work to get the car repaired and ready for today,” said Grala, who started last and finished 12th in the 21-car field. “I felt like it had good speed in it. The driver needed to pick up on some things. Did a little learning tonight. I feel like I know a lot more going into Sunday than I did going into this one.”
McLeod’s Live Fast Motorsports outfit was also on unfamiliar ground, back at Daytona this year as a part-time team competing without a charter and the guaranteed starting spot that comes with it. His No. 78 Chevrolet was snared when multicar bedlam erupted in the 49th of 60 laps, but he continued with minimal damage, finishing just two positions behind Grala at the checkered flag.
McLeod’s streak of consecutive Daytona 500 starts ended at five straight, but he remained upbeat about his team’s showing. He said Live Fast will return to the track next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway as the team continues to focus on superspeedway-style tracks in its partial Cup Series schedule this year.
“I feel like, yeah, we missed this race but we learned so much moving toward the future for the Cup team, being an Open team and trying to come out of our little-bitty shop with no help whatsoever,” McLeod said. “My guys literally set this car up with just them. I mean, there’s no manufacturer help, there’s no nothing. We’re here on our own, and to come that close for real, it felt good. Honestly, I don’t feel at a loss, I feel happy. We got here and we raced hard and just had a fun night, right? I’m so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had, but very few of them have I been able to drive 100% to my ability and this one, I drove everything I had, wasn’t enough, but I did it and that’s what feels good.”