DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Team Penske crew chief Paul Wolfe was far more upbeat Friday morning in the Daytona International Speedway garage, less than 12 hours removed from a qualifying race crash that KO'd Brad Keselowski's primary No. 2 Ford for the Daytona 500.
"It's a new day, right?" Wolfe said.
Friday was, and Wolfe & Co. went back to work sorting out their backup car in hopes of sustaining their role as a favorite for Sunday's Great American Race (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM). Keselowski will be seeking his first Daytona 500 triumph, forging on with a chassis that has race-winning pedigree; he guided the chassis -- since reskinned -- to victory last October at Talladega Superspeedway.
MORE: Daytona 500 starting lineup | Which drivers master the draft?Keselowski and Wolfe have already experienced brilliant highs and troublesome lows in the brief span of Speedweeks. The No. 2 team prevailed in the Advance Auto Parts Clash exhibition last Sunday, but made contact with Jamie McMurray and the outside retaining wall in Thursday night's Can-Am Duels race, forcing the team to the rear of the 40-car field for Sunday's main event.
"A little frustrating last night for a couple reasons," Wolfe said Friday morning. "One, obviously, that race pays points now, and it's frustrating not to get those points there early on. From a car standpoint, I mean, all our cars I feel good about, so it doesn't bother me going to a backup car, but I think losing those points last night are valuable; and then just the starting position for Sunday.
"I'm confident in what we have. I mean, obviously we've shown really good speed -- all the Penske cars have -- and it's just frustrating we weren't able to make it happen."
Keselowski will be one of eight drivers dropping to the back of the pack during pace laps for the 500, the penalty for deploying reserve cars after qualifying. Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson and David Gilliland are the others.
But an encouraging point from Thursday's Can-Am Duels qualifiers was Team Penske's ability to work together in the aerodynamic draft, a tactic the organization hopes to replicate Sunday, Wolfe said. And the veteran crew chief is also taking heart that the backup No. 2 Ford has been just as meticulously prepared as the primary.
"I can't really say that there was one (car) that was put a whole lot more time into than the other, so that's where I say from that standpoint, we have confidence that this car will be as capable as what we raced in the Clash and what we had last night," Wolfe said. "We'll take our time today and get everything dialed back in, get the setup where we want it and there's no reason we still can't win this thing Sunday."