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The NASCAR Foundation Chairperson honored for Speediatrics

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For years Betty Jane France has championed support for children’s healthcare at Halifax Health Medical Center. Now a bronze statue stands there in her honor, unveiled Wednesday by the Halifax Health Foundation just outside the hospital tower which also bears her family’s name.

"Just as NASCAR inducts members into its Hall of Fame, Betty Jane France is in our Hall of Fame," Halifax Health CEO Jeff Feasel said, steps away from the entrance of France Tower.
 
France spearheaded the creation of the hospital’s Betty Jane France Center for Pediatrics, also known as Speediatrics. The 36-bed, NASCAR-themed unit provides care to more than 2,000 children battling illness each year. Since France started The NASCAR Foundation in 2006, the Foundation has donated more than $1.5 million to Speediatrics.
 
France was joined at Wednesday’s ceremony by her son, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, and daughter, Lesa France Kennedy, CEO of International Speedway Corporation. NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton and NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace, longtime supporters of Speediatrics, each spoke at the event. Also in attendance were Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry, and the statue’s sculptor, artist John Lajba.
 
Private donations made the nearly 9-foot statue of France possible.
 
"Halifax Health has provided tremendous care for this community since 1928, for which we all should be very grateful," France said. "This facility has had a huge influence on this wonderful place where we live. I am so proud to be honored by this facility, which is such a pillar of our community."

The NASCAR Foundation Chairperson Betty Jane France is congratulated by her son, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, on Wednesday after the unveiling of a statue in her honor at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida.

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Brian Scott, Josh Wise, Justin Marks and Ron Hornaday Jr. also miss field

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Crashes, mechanical woes and disputes over racing room all added to the pressure cooker of Thursday night’s qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway. For an unfortunate half-dozen drivers, the bubble finally burst.
 
Six hopefuls were left on the outside of the 43-car field for Sunday’s 57th Daytona 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX), coming up short of making the final cut in the Budweiser Duels. Alex Bowman, Jeb Burton, Ron Hornaday Jr., Justin Marks, Brian Scott and Josh Wise — all with varying degrees of experience in NASCAR’s most prestigious event — were the odd men out.
 
Bowman, Burton and Scott all fell victim to crashes in the second 150-mile qualifying race. Bowman’s Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7 caught the brunt of the damage in the 37th-lap melee; he emerged from the infield care center unhurt but resigned to the fact that his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start with TBR will come next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

PHOTOS: Best images from Daytona Duels

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"I hate it," Bowman said of the pins-needles waiting game. "Really I’m not a fan of this style of racing, and this whole week is more stressful than I wish it was. But it’s the game, and we all choose to play it."
 
Burton — trying desperately to make his Sprint Cup debut in his first Daytona 500 start — wrecked for the second time in two days, right on the heels of his sustaining damage in the opening moments of Wednesday’s practice. The second-day setback sent the BK Racing No. 26 Toyota home early, causing the Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to echo Bowman’s sentiments.
 
"I hate it," Burton said. "I just … wrong spot, wrong time. These cars are so on the edge. I was very disappointed for us. We’ll have to go get them in Atlanta."
 
Scott’s misfortune came later, after Danica Patrick spun in the midst of close racing in Turn 3 with Denny Hamlin. The mishap snared Scott’s No. 62 Chevy, plus the No. 31 Chevrolet of Richard Childress Racing’s Ryan Newman
 
"There was just nowhere I could go," Scott said as he walked away, shortly after learning his Speedweeks outcome. "Got us damage, got us in a bad situation. Obviously didn’t finish good enough because of it. It’s a nerve-wracking race for all those reasons. You’ve got fast cars that should be in the show that go home. It’s a show. It’s a good show for the fans, I suppose."

MORE: Danica rallies to make Daytona 500 field | Underdogs find way into Daytona 500 field
 
Wise’s Daytona 500 hopes failed to get off the ground before the green flag ever fell on the second 60-lap qualifier. His No. 98 Ford stalled during pace laps, forcing his Phil Parsons Racing team to work on a faulty fuel pick-up behind the wall.
 
Wise finally joined the race, 12 laps down after repairs, but completed just one circuit before calling it a day.
 
"Total disbelief pretty much sums it up," Wise said via Twitter. "Was looking forward to racing my way into the Daytona 500 tonight. Something happened to the fuel pump and we never took the green flag. I really hate it for my team because I know how hard they work. Thanks for all the kind messages. We will bounce back and be ready to go for Atlanta."
 
Justin Marks, attempting to make his first Daytona 500 start and just his second Sprint Cup appearance, needed to race his way in with a finish of 16th or better in the first Duel (thanks to Gordon placing inside the top 15). He wound up 18th in the RAB Racing No. 29 Toyota.
 
Ron Hornaday Jr., the four-time Camping World Truck Series champion, was attempting to make his first Sprint Cup start since 2003. His effort with The Motorsports Group start-up team went downhill shortly after his No. 30 Chevrolet lost contact with the lead pack’s aerodynamic draft. Hornaday finished below the cut line in 21st place, next-to-last on the lead lap.

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Driver of the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet gets into the 43-car field

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Casey Mears’ hopes for making his 11th Daytona 500 start turned murky in a cloud of smoke early during Thursday night’s Budweiser Duels. When the smoke lifted from all the crashes in both 150-mile qualifiers, Mears’ murky future became clear — he’s in.

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Mears was among the biggest names in limbo for the 43-car field in Sunday’s Great American Race (1 p.m. ET, FOX), the season opener for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Engine failure after just 17 laps in the opening 60-lap race sidelined the 36-year-old veteran, who finished 26th in last year’s final standings. 

"I don’t have any thoughts right now other than everything’s bad," a dejected Mears said after his early exit. "The nature of this place has been really good to us in the past, and obviously when something like this happens you just feel so helpless. It’s really out of your control. You want a fighting chance." 

Those left on the outside of the elite group of 43: Alex Bowman, Jeb Burton, Ron Hornaday Jr., Justin Marks, Brian Scott and Josh Wise — each of whom endured their own brand of heartache on a cold Thursday night in Florida. 

After the first race, Mears joined AJ Allmendinger, Johnny Sauter and others in tense moments of scoreboard-watching in the second Duel race, waiting to see if their body of work in Speedweeks would be enough to make the main event. 

Allmendinger, a qualifier for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs last year, wound up with enough stature in the team owner points to advance; Sauter — 12th in Sunday’s qualifying (after Hamlin’s time was disallowed), but with a team 41st in owner points last season — made the race on the basis of his qualifying speed.

WATCH: Sauter, Allmendinger involved in wreck

Mears was mired in the thick of a dense pack with the opening 60-lap qualifier barely a quarter of the way in, riding the high line in hopes of clinching a starting berth. Just past the start-finish line, the engine in the Germain Racing No. 13 Chevrolet went south with a hole in the oil pan, the car smoking steadily as he lost power. 

By the time the car was pushed back to the garage, Mears seemed resigned to going home early though two-thirds of the race remained. He wound up with a last-place result in the 25-car field. With just a 28th-fastest lap from last Sunday’s qualifying and the team’s 26th-place position in the 2014 standings to fall back on, it was close to not being enough.

"There’s so many things that are so cool about this race track, yet there’s so many things that are out of your control," Mears said. "When we have something like this happen, it’s difficult any way it happens. It doesn’t look good, obviously. I’m guessing we’re going home unless something major happens in the second race or something happens in this one. I don’t even know what to say. It just rips your heart out.

"We’re so good at these places, yet these are the places that anything can happen, and anything happened tonight."

Sauter took the worst of his collision with Allmendinger in the 2.5-mile track’s trioval, despite taking it easy in the first half of the race.

"I just was riding along on the top side there, just trying to mind my own business," Sauter said. "We were in a tight spot there going back to qualifying, if you’re in on speed or not. We deliberated about it all week, just do we try to be conservative, do we try to race. I thought I was doing everything right, just hanging out in the top groove."

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Young challengers exist, but can they match veteran’s consistency?

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series boasts a thriving community of talented young drivers ready for the chance to make their names known. But for the last two years, an unflappable veteran has made the next wave of talent wait its turn.

Matt Crafton takes the first steps toward a championship three-peat Friday night at Daytona International Speedway, kicking off the 23-race schedule with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). The 38-year-old driver had to wait until his 13th season to wear the series crown; now he has two in a two-year span.

In 2013, Crafton virtually clinched the title with one race remaining. Last year, the points battle was a much closer contest, but the California native said his laid-back approach minimized any late-season pressure.

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"Two was actually a lot easier to be totally honest," Crafton said. "The points gap was closer, but for me personally and internally and in my head, definitely two was a lot easier. Three, I’m just going to go with the same mindset I did for two — just go out here and race and have fun. I get paid to do what I love to do, so not put any pressure on yourself and just go out there and try to lead laps and win races."

No surprise, ThorSport Racing left the core of his No. 88 Toyota team unchanged heading into 2015. But while the organization has stayed the course, the series’ competition environment has changed.

Gone from the Camping World Truck Series are 2014 runner-up Ryan Blaney, as well as third-place Darrell Wallace Jr., a four-time winner on the circuit last year. Fourth-place Johnny Sauter, his ThorSport teammate, and veteran fifth-place finisher Timothy Peters return for 2015, but several young drivers — Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick and Ben Kennedy among them — aim to assume the mantle of title contenders.

It’s a path that has been blazed already by reigning NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Chase Elliott, who clinched his first national series title at age 18. Reddick, ready for a full season in Brad Keselowski Racing’s No. 19 Ford, says the Truck Series should be no different.

"I feel like a lot of young drivers feel like we can challenge the veterans in any series. … Just look at Elliott and Blaney," said Reddick, 19. "I feel like the younger guys have a lot of confidence right now."

Confidence, though, hasn’t necessarily translated to consistency, which has become Crafton’s calling card through his championship campaigns.

"Something that Crafton has really figured out with the trucks is, he may not be lightning-fast, but over the long run, he is probably the most consistent guy out there," said Kennedy, the series’ Sunoco Rookie of the Year last season. "He can run the same lap time over and over and over again. Once he gets on a long run, that’s where he kind of prevails. A lot of these guys will just go out there and burn their tires off, and five or 10 laps later will start falling back a little bit."

Besides Crafton’s performance over the long haul, the organization’s chemistry has made the bright yellow No. 88 the team to beat the last two seasons. Carl "Junior" Joiner returns as the team’s crew chief, continuing a combination with friendship ties that run deeper than a working relationship. Any other changes in the ThorSport camp, Crafton said, amount to mere fine-tuning for 2015.

While the defending champion may have plenty of challengers lining up to stake their claim to the throne, any serious threat must pass the season-long test.

"There’s going to be some very fast trucks, without a doubt," Crafton said, "but it’s one thing to be fast for one weekend or five weekends out of the year. Just trying to put it together throughout the whole 23 races that we run."

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Joe Gibbs Racing ride could be the start of something big

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daniel Suarez seems to have a sense of how big a leap he’s about to make up the NASCAR ladder, but even then, it’s still a jump that’s difficult for him to grasp.

One year ago, Suarez was competing on a makeshift 0.4-mile oval on the backstretch of Daytona International Speedway in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. This year, the 23-year-old driver will be stretching his legs on the full 2.5-mile layout as he opens his first full season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

"Everything is new," Suarez said last Thursday during NASCAR Media Day. "Sometimes I don’t even know the level of what I’m getting into, but it’s great to be learning about the best drivers, the best race teams, the best brands. It’s just a great opportunity of life. I believe this kind of opportunity you get just once in life, and maybe this is mine. I need to try to work 100 percent to make something good happen from this."

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Suarez’s superspeedway debut comes Saturday in the XFINITY season-opening Alert Today Florida 300 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), but he already has Daytona to thank in part for helping him get his big break. Last February, Suarez prevailed in the Battle at the Beach on the temporary backstretch circuit, right on the heels of a victory at nearby New Smyrna Speedway — his second K&N win in a span of three days.

Those consecutive wins — combined with his portfolio of 10 victories in three seasons in the NASCAR Toyota Mexico Series — helped attract the eye of Joe Gibbs Racing, which backed Suarez’s XFINITY debut in April at Richmond International Raceway and will field the No. 18 Toyota for him in all 33 races this season.

"I think winning is everything," said Suarez, a product of the NASCAR Next youth initiative. "I think if you win races, your name starts getting around and people start knowing more about you and people start getting interested. When I got those two wins at the start of the season, I started getting more opportunities and we started thinking and talking more about 2015. I believe that definitely was a good step to being where we are right now."

Suarez moved from his native Mexico to North Carolina three years ago, not just to be closer to the hub of stock-car racing teams but to learn English as a second language. All the while, he continued to compete full time in the Mexico Series, creating a travel and logistics high-wire act with frequent trips between the United States and his homeland.

His 2015 slate doesn’t include any Mexico Series events, meaning visits to his hometown of Monterrey will come at a far less frequent rate. Instead, Suarez hopes his family will be able to make the trip stateside to see him race.

"They’re so happy and proud of all this," Suarez said. "My family doesn’t come from racing, so this is kind of new for everyone. This is something new that we’re exploring, so definitely it’s a good experience."

To help accelerate his learning process, Suarez plans to compete in 13 races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 51 Toyota, primarily to gain experience at tracks where he’s yet to turn a wheel. It’s a hefty increase in his workload, which to date consists of just three career starts at the NASCAR national series level.

Should the sharp trajectory up the NASCAR ranks continue on its current arc, the top-tier Sprint Cup Series might not be that far off. But Suarez demurs at the suggestion, saying it’s too early to forecast such a plan.

"I wish," Suarez said with a grin. "We can talk about that right now, but maybe it’s not the time. The XFINITY Series is the most important thing right now. Definitely after we progress, after we can be competitive and win some races in the XFINITY Series, that is going to come to our team. For now, it’s not in the conversations, but I believe it will come in the timing of the moment."

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Stewart-Haas Racing driver rallies from late wreck to make Daytona 500

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the second time this week, Danica Patrick wound up with a wrecked race car and on both occasions fellow driver Denny Hamlin was seen as the culprit.
 
And Patrick, driver of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Chevrolet, wasn’t happy.

MORE: @nascarcasm’s take on incident

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Barely one day after an incident with Hamlin during practice had sent her bouncing off the wall, Patrick was once again going for an unintentional spin at Daytona International Speedway.
 
This time it was in the second of two Budweiser Duel qualifying races. This time it was for keeps. A bad finish and Patrick’s Daytona 500 hopes could have vanished.
 
Although she rallied to finish 10th thanks to a green-white-checkered finish that extended the race four laps beyond it’s scheduled 60-lap distance, Patrick wasted no time in finding Hamlin after the race.
 
Moments after pulling onto pit road, she climbed from her damaged car and quickly headed for Hamlin’s stopped entry.
 
Hamlin met her halfway, no doubt anticipating a confrontation.

MORE: Underdogs make way into Daytona 500 field
 
When Patrick reached up and grasped Hamlin’s fire suit with both hands, Hamlin likely realized his expectations had been correct.
 
"You did the same thing," Patrick said, referring to the Wednesday incident. "Tighten what up? Nobody else left me with a problem out there."
 
"Nobody has your back like I have it," Hamlin said. "Stop. Listen to me. But I can’t give you an extra two feet because it’s you."
 
"You give me nothing. You give me nothing. It spun my back end around!" countered Patrick.
 
Hamlin: "I understand. It’s because you’re loose. It’s not my problem if you’re loose."
 
Patrick: "Nobody else did it to me."
 
Hamlin: "Then nobody else is getting close to you. We have to get close to you. To get you going forward, we have to get close to you. I know it got you loose."
 
Patrick: "You spun me out. Just like in practice. When I looked in my rearview mirror and you were right here. You weren’t here; you were here."
 
Hamlin: "Absolutely. You were loose entering the corners …"
 
Patrick: “Because you … Denny. It happened twice. The same person, the same way.”
 
Hamlin: "But guess what. I didn’t hit you either time."
 
Patrick: "Well then apparently you don’t have to actually hit me. I like you Denny, you’re my friend."
 
Hamlin: "Does it mean like, ‘oh my god, she’s loose. I can’t run next to her?’ What should I do?"
 
Patrick: "It just means don’t be up my ass on my left corner … you did it on the straightaway and then you did it in the corner that time. Both times exact same results."
 
Hamlin: "I won’t get close to you. I understand now."
 
Patrick: "You can get close; I’m sure everybody gets close. But you don’t need to turn me. That’s what it did."

Denny: "I know it did. I totally get it, but it’s something they have to work on."
 
At that point, Tony Stewart, co-owner of SHR, arrives and chides Hamlin.
 
"Tony, I never touched her," Hamlin said. "I never touched her. What do you want me to do? Not run close?"
 
"You watch the video," Stewart said.
 
And with that, the party broke up. Patrick had managed to secure her spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
 
Because of the severity of damage in Thursday’s crash, Patrick will be back behind the wheel of the car she drove to a 10th-place finish last Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited for the remainder of the week.
 
She’ll line up 20th for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Hamlin will start 42nd.

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Bronx native becomes first woman, Hispanic to flag Great American Race

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 18, 2015) — NASCAR announced today that long-time official Kim Lopez will be the chief starter for Sunday’s 57th running of the Daytona 500. She will become the first woman and first Hispanic to flag the Great American Race, which begins at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, live on FOX, Motor Racing Network Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Lopez, 33, is in her 11th season with NASCAR and has flagged races for the past seven years in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. She also flagged two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races last year, but couldn’t attend the Daytona 500 following the birth of her daughter just three weeks before the race.

"I think this is awesome," said Lopez, a native of Bronx, New York. "You have little girls who can now look up and say ‘I can do this someday, I can be this someday. If I put my mind to it and work hard, I can make it happen.’"

The chief starter plays an essential role during the race, displaying the eight flags that tell the best drivers in the world to start, slow down, move over or stop. It’s a role that Lopez won’t take for granted on Sunday when the field maneuvers beneath her at speeds of more than 200 mph.

Lopez also will have the honor of waving the checkered flag when the winner crosses the finish line and etches his or her name in NASCAR history.

"Kim will serve as chief starter, because she’s among the best in the world at what she does," said Chad Little, NASCAR managing director, Technical Inspection and Officiating. "She has pursued her dreams in uncharted territory and we’re excited to see her dreams come true when she flags the Daytona 500."

Tickets for the Daytona 500 are available online at DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can follow @NASCAR on Twitter to engage in the #NASCAR conversation.

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Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson top earlier Sprint Cup Series practice

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DAYTONA 500 PRACTICE 4 | Full results

Alex Bowman topped the leaderboard at Daytona International Speedway during Wednesday’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for the Daytona 500 (Sunday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. ET, FOX).

The 21-year-old driver powered his No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet around the famed track at 200.495 mph.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne posted the second-fastest time, registering a high speed of 200.459 mph.

The top five — who all clocked times over 200 mph — consisted of Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne (200.387 mph), and Richard Childress Racing’s Paul Menard (200.374 mph) and Brian Scott (200.285 mph), respectively.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Sprint Cup Series champion, rounded the "World Center of Racing" 12th-fastest with a top speed of 196.113 mph.

The Sprint Cup Series is back on the track for its next practice session on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 12 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX Sports 1.

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DAYTONA 500 PRACTICE 3 | Full results

Kyle Busch was the fastest driver in today’s opening Daytona 500 (Sunday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. ET, FOX) practice session, propelling his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at 200.776 mph around Daytona International Speedway.

Daytona 500 outside pole winner Jimmie Johnson came up just behind him, rounding the "World Center of Racing" at a high speed of 200.530 mph.

RELATED: Jeff Gordon wins Daytona 500 pole

Completing the top five were 2011 Daytona 500 winner and Roush Fenway Racing’s Trevor Bayne (200.053 mph), Hendrick Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne (199.858 mph) and Richard Childress Racing’s Ryan Newman (199.645 mph).

2014 Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick came in as 23rd-fastest, powering his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet around the track at 196.640 mph in preparation for the coveted Great American Race.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Kenseth, winner of Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited showdown, posted a high speed of 194.489 mph, ranking 31st on the leaderboard.

Minutes into qualifying, Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet hit the wall after making contact with Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, bringing out the caution flag. Her Chevrolet SS was towed off the track with extensive damage. Michael Annett and Jeb Burton also were collected in the incident, receiving damage to both of their cars.

RELATED: Danica Patrick’s car destroyed in practice

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O’Donnell: Continue to review qualifying at future superspeedway events

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NASCAR announced on Wednesday that it will update the procedure for this week’s NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying at Daytona International Speedway.

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"We continue to work in collaboration with the industry to implement the most exciting and competitive qualifying format, especially as it relates to Superspeedways," NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said. " As a result, we have made a few adjustments to the format for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series events later this week at Daytona. We will continue to review the qualifying format for future Superspeedway events."

For Camping World Truck Keystone Light Pole Qualifying (Friday, 4:45 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1) and XFINITY Coors Light Pole Qualifying (Saturday, 12:15 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1), the field will be broken into four groups with a quarter of the field in each group.

In Round 1, groups will be set based on a random draw. Each group will be staged by NASCAR officials at the exit of pit road, and each vehicle must have its left-side tires on the outside line of a pit boxes. The vehicles will be staged with adequate spacing between vehicles to allow each driver the opportunity to roll off of pit road at his or her discretion. Once the vehicle starts rolling, it cannot stop. It must proceed to the track. The vehicles may go one at a time or in a group, but they must keep rolling once they start.

Each group will have two minutes and 30 seconds — half the previous allotted time — to complete a lap. There will be a three-minute break between each of the four groups in Round 1 and then a 10-minute break between Rounds 1 and 2. The fastest 24 times advance to Round 2.

In Round 2, the 12 odd-ranked vehicles (fastest to slowest) in Round 1 will be in the first group, and the 12 even-ranked vehicles (fastest to slowest) in Round 1 will be in the second group. The staging process will be the same, and each group will have two minutes and 30 seconds to complete a lap with a three-minute break between groups. After a 10-minute break, the top 12 advance to Round 3.

In Round 3, the top 12 vehicles will have two minutes and 30 seconds to complete a lap.

All other qualifying rules will apply with normal cooling procedures and the lineup set per the rule book.

The rules update comes three days after Daytona 500 qualifying, which saw a wreck in Round 1 and drivers waiting until the last possible second to cross the start/finish line to complete a lap. On Sunday, Jeff Gordon, the last driver to cross the under the flagstand before the red and black flags waved in the final round, won the Coors Light Pole for the Great American Race.

"I’m glad that they’re open to making changes and trying to learn from those changes," Earnhardt said on Wednesday about the changes for XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series qualifying at Daytona. "The last segment of (Sprint Cup) qualifying I thought was exciting. There were only 12 cars in that segment, and we weren’t sure if we could make it back at the time."

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Read NASCAR Rule Book addressing Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup

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With the first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup berth all but locked up following the Daytona 500 (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX), NASCAR issued a bulletin on Wednesday that outlined updates for Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup eligibility.

Updates are highlighted.

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17.6.2.1 ELIGIBILITY
.a    
Drivers and car owners must enter all Championship Events and attempt to Qualify for all Championship Events through the completion of the final Championship Event of the season (EIRI).
.a    
Unless otherwise authorized by NASCAR, driver(s) and car owner(s) must start all Championship Events of the current season to be eligible for The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. If a starting position was not earned, then the driver(s) and car owners(s) must have attempted to Qualify for the Race.
.b    
Race finishes must be unencumbered by violation(s) of the NASCAR Rules or other action(s) detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.

To be eligible to compete in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, drivers must start each race for which they have qualified, unless the sanctioning body finds reason to waive that requirement.
 
That change, announced in a bulletin on Wednesday morning modifies the language of Rule 17.6.2.1.a, which last year required drivers to attempt to qualify for each event to retain Chase eligibility.
 
Under the current provision, drivers still must attempt to qualify for each race, but they also must start every race for which they qualify successfully, unless NASCAR authorizes otherwise. A driver does not lose Chase eligibility for attempting to qualify for a race and failing to make the field.
 
The clarified rule would apply in a situation where Kurt Busch, for example, were to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, race in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday (as he did last year), but fail to return to Charlotte in time to start the Cup race. In that event, NASCAR would be unlikely to grant a waiver.
 
On the other hand, NASCAR already has indicated that Brian Vickers, who will miss the first two events of the season while recovering from offseason heart surgery, retains his Chase eligibility because of a medical exception.

The NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this report.

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