NASCAR kicks off the start of the 2022 season at Daytona International Speedway this week culminating in the 64th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon. While we got a glimpse of the Next Gen car in the Busch Clash at the L.A. Coliseum, the true test begins this weekend as the regular season begins.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will compete Friday night in the ‘NextEra Energy 250’ and the Xfinity Series will be on track Saturday evening for the ‘Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300.’
Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is set for Wednesday night and will have a new look this year. There will be two rounds of qualifying with the top 10 fastest cars moving to the second round. The fastest two cars in Round 2 will lock in their starting positions on the front row.
The remaining starting positions will be determined in the Bluegreen Vacation Duels on Thursday evening. The lineup for the Duels will be set by the single-car qualifying results from Wednesday.
The cars that finished first, third, fifth, etc. in the single-car qualifying will make up the field for Duel 1. The cars that finished in even-numbered positions will compete in Duel 2. There will be the same number of Open teams in each Duel race.
The Bluegreen Vacation Duels will set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. The drivers from Duel 1 will line up on the inside row in order of their finish and the drivers from Duel 2 will line up on the outside row in order of their finish.
The fastest open team in each Duel will qualify into the Daytona 500. The two open teams with the fastest times in single-car qualifying that did not qualify through the duels will make up the final two spots in the field.
This year the top-10 finishers in each Duel will receive points that will count toward the regular-season championship. The winner receives 10 points, the runner-up nine points, etc., with the 10th-place finisher earning one point.
If it rains and the Duel races cannot be run, the starting grid for the Daytona 500 will be set based on the best qualifying speeds along with the four fastest Open cars, If only the second Duel race is canceled due to rain, the highest-finishing open team from the first duel plus the three remaining fastest open teams from qualifying will advance to the Daytona 500.
All times are Eastern.
Tuesday, Feb. 15:
5:05 p.m.: Cup Series First Practice – FS1/MRN
6:35 p.m.: Cup Series Second Practice – FS1/MRN
Wednesday, Feb. 16:
8:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Single Vehicle, One Lap, Two Rounds – FS1, MRN
Thursday, February 17
4 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series practice
5 p.m.: Truck Series practice – FS1
7 p.m.: Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 – 60 Laps, 150 Miles – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
8:45 p.m.(approx.): Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 – 60 Laps, 150 Miles – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Friday, February 18
1:30 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying (Groups)
3:00 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Single Vehicle, One Lap, Two Rounds) FS1
4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1
6 p.m.: Cup Series Third Practice – FS1/MRN
7:30 PM Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 (Stages 20/40/100 Laps=250 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Saturday, February 19
10:30 a.m.: Cup Series Final Practice – FS2/MRN (coverage moves to FS1 at 11 a.m.)
11:35 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Single Vehicle, One Lap, Two Rounds) – FS1
1:30 p.m.: ARCA Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire (80 Laps, 200 Miles) FS1/MRN
5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 (Stages 30/60/120 Laps=300 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday, February 20
2:30 p.m.: Cup Series Daytona 500 (Stages 65/130/200 Laps=500 Miles) FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
