The Real Racing Begins Today

The twins come out in Daytona Beach today (and I'm not talking about the twins that are causing Dolly Parton's back problems). I'm talking about the Twin 150 qualifying races for the Daytona 500. This is the only race of the season with qualifying races proceeding it, and they are always some of the most exciting races of the year.

Right now 38 drivers are assured of a starting spot in Sunday's 500, but there are five more spots available and 15 cars trying to get in. Where they finish in the Twin 150's can mean the difference between a payday guaranteed at a minimum of $200,000 for the last place finisher, and nothing.

Just how complicated is the qualifying process for the guys who aren't in yet? Jayski has these details:

Drivers who are not yet assured of a spot in the 500 and how they can get in:
Who Could Get In Via Duels/ Qualifying Time

#60-Boris Said: Fastest of non-qualifiers, but could make the 500 one of two ways -- if he finishes first or second among the go-or-go-home drivers, or if #55-Michael Waltrip, #78-Joe Nemechek or #00-David Reutimann finish top-2 among the drivers not in on owners' points.

#10-Patrick Carpentier: Second-fastet of non-qualifiers, but could make the 500 one of two ways -- if he finishes first or second among the go-or-go-home drivers or if Waltrip, Nemechek, Reutimann or Said finish top-2 among the drivers not in on owenrs points.

#83-Brian Vickers: Third-fastert non-qualifier, but could make the 500 one of two ways -- if he finishes among the top-2 among the go-or-go-home drivers, or if Waltrip, Nemechek, Reutimann, Said or Carpentier finish top-2 among the drivers not in on owners points.

#27-Jacques Villeneuve: Fourth-fastest non-qualifiers, but could make the 500 one of two ways -- if he finishes among the top-2 among the go-or-go-home drivers, or if Nemechek, Reutimann, Said and Carpentier finish top-2 among the drivers not in on owners points.

Past Champions
#21-Bill Elliott: The 1988 champion must place top-2 among the go or go-homers in his duel or hope both #2-Kurt Busch and #44-Dale Jarrett finish top-2 in their Duels.

#44-Dale Jarrett: must finish top-2 among the go or go-homers, unless Busch manages to do that. Then Jarrett would earn the past champion's provisional because his 1999 championship is more recent than Elliott's 1988 title.

Who Must Race Their Way In: #50-Stanton Barrett; #49-Ken Schrader; #08-Carl Long; #37-Eric McClure; #09-Sterling Marlin; #84-AJ Allmendinger; #87-Kenny Wallace; #34-John Andretti.

Got that? For some drivers whether they race on Sunday will come down to the final lap in their qualifying race, and sometimes in the other qualifying race. Heartbreak or ecstasy can be separated by only fractions of a second. It's pretty intense.

The twins kick off at 11am PT on SPEEDTV.