New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Johnson, Pastrana land spots in Daytona 500 as Daly breaks
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Conor Daly’s first call after getting offered a chance to race his way into the Daytona 500 was to a guy named AJ.
It was supposed to be Allmendinger. He accidentally dialed up Foyt.
Daly panicked and hung up before the four-time Indy 500 champion and 1972 Daytona 500 winner could answer.
“It would have been an interesting call,” Daly said.
Probably would have been informative, too, since Foyt is one of two open-wheel regulars (along with Mario Andretti) to win the two most prestigious races in North America — the Indy 500 and the Daytona 500.
Nonetheless, Daly, an IndyCar regular, has been trying to glean knowledge from anyone and everyone (besides Foyt) about how to efficiently and effectively get around Daytona International Speedway.
Daly ended up having to wait a day to get on track after an electrical issue burned a hole in an oil line, which couldn’t get repaired in time for singlelap qualifying runs Wednesday night. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson and action sports star Travis Pastrana had no issues and were the fastest of the six drivers vying for the final four spots.
Johnson and Pastrana landed starting spots and joined the 36 drivers already locked into the 40car field based on NASCAR’s charter system. Daly and youngsters Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith will vie for the final two coveted spots in twin qualifying races Thursday.
Daly considered himself a long shot to make the race on speed in his No. 50 Chevrolet for The Money Team, mostly because he has so little experience at Daytona. And he’s right: FanDuel Sportsbook listed his odds at winning the race at 200-1.
Daly raced go-karts at a smaller track inside Daytona as a teenager and twice ran the road course as part of the Rolex 24. But Daly has yet to turn laps on the high-banked, high-speed superspeedway in a Cup car.
“Spent a lot of time here growing up and just excited for the chance just to take in a lot of learning at a very high rate of speed,” Daly said. “It’s going to be tough. It’s the biggest uphill battle that I’ve ever had to make a race.”
He turned to Allmendinger, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Corey LaJoie and Chase Briscoe for help. He even listened to three-time Daytona 500 champ Denny Hamlin’s podcast for insight.
“Everyone said the same thing: ‘It’s going to be hard, but why not try?’” Daly said.
Daly spent two hours in Chevy’s NASCAR simulator last week, all of it trying to hone shift points and how to get on and off pit road. As for everything else?
“It’s impossible to simulate,” he said.
Johnson actually might have similar issues even though the two-time Daytona 500 winner knows the track as well as anyone entered in the event. He hasn’t raced in the latest iteration of the Cup Series car but does have two test sessions in it, including one at Daytona.
As co-owner at Legacy Motor Club, Johnson has been peppering both his drivers, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson, with questions about the car. He compared the situation to 2002, when he had to race his way into the Daytona 500 as a rookie at Hendrick Motorsports.