Daytona 500 qualifying results were surprisingly awesome

I often hear a take that NASCAR superspeedway racing is so much of a crapshoot that qualifying doesn’t matter, and I get it, but I don’t agree. I mean, I agree that it’s a crapshoot, but to me the point of watching stock car racing at Daytona or Talladega is to see who has the best car and — if they don’t win — compare it to the one who overcomes the circumstances. I did not have it on my bingo card that Richard Childress Racing would prepare the #8 as the fastest car, or that — in his 21st attempt — Kyle Busch would drive it to pole. My rooting for him feels super rewarded.

In other good news, Corey Heim’s #67 23XI entry was blazingly fast, and both he and my main man Justin Allgaier in the JR Motorsports #40 locked into the 500. JRM is now two for two on making the race, and after their great run last year, I would be overjoyed to see a strong result.

Also, in an amusing twist, Noah Gragson had his qualifying lap deleted because he did the hand-in-the-window aero trick that was literally just banned.

The race sold out for the 11th straight year, the purse is bigger than ever — I’d say the omens are good. As long as the weather doesn’t completely sap the event of joy like last year.