NASCAR: Convoluted new Daytona 500 qualifying format baffles drivers

While the rules package for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars remains unchanged for Daytona Speedweeks this year, the qualifying format for the Daytona 500 is revised, and drivers are anxious about how it will play out.

In years past, Sunday's qualifying (FOX, 1:30 p.m. ET) session set the front row for the Daytona 500 via single-car runs. Every car entered in the race got two laps to set a qualifying time running alone on the track.

Once again, Sunday's session will determine only the front row for the Daytona 500. The final field will be set next Thursday in the Budweiser Duel qualifying races. This year, though, cars will qualify in groups, as they did at Talladega last fall.

The field will be divided into two groups based on a random draw for the first of three rounds of qualifying – odd numbers in the first group, even in the second group.

The first round will be five minutes, with the fastest 24 cars advancing to Round 2. After a 10-minute break, the five-minute second round takes place, with the fastest 12 cars advancing to Round 3. After a seven-minute break, the top-two qualifiers will be determined in Round 3, which will also be five minutes.

LEFT: Austin Dillon and Richard Childress celebrate 2014's last old-school Daytona 500 pole.

"There's going to be a lot of strategy," said Paul Menard of Richard Childress Racing. "There's going to be a lot of balls-to-the-wall laps on both Sunday for qualifying, and for the Duels. It's going to be interesting. There's going to be a lot of cars down here and it's going to be tough to make the field for a lot of them."

Thursday morning, NASCAR issued a technical bulletin with some subtle tweaks to the format in an attempt to alleviate some of the concerns that were raised at Talladega last fall.

"We've defined the qualifying for all events, but for superspeedways – obviously, for here," said Richard Buck, NASCAR's managing director of the Sprint Cup Series, in an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com. "Track specific, the rules are going to be in place for the egress and ingress. Pit exit, the blend line's going to be in place, pit road speed and the commitment line.

"Furthermore, we've defined the getting up to speed," said Buck. "The cars must get up to speed in an acceptable manner and once they get to an acceptable speed, they can join the pack. But they must not impede anybody's lap. At any time, they cannot do an unsafe act to impede anybody's lap."

Buck said fairness was a big part of the concern.

"The overview of it is, we want an equitable and equal playing field for everybody to qualify," said Buck. "It's going to be a judgment call, but at any point we see anything that's unsafe, we'll make the call. And we can do anything from take the lap time away to park the car for the rest of the qualifying session."

The new procedures are especially important at Daytona, where 49 cars are entered for the 43-car field. And drivers are interested in seeing how the group qualifying will work here.

"Yeah, I'm worried about qualifying," said Danica Patrick. "It didn't go well at Talladega, and I don't see how it's going to go any different here at Daytona."

"I'm concerned about it," added Sam Hornish Jr. "But a lot of other people are, too."

Originally on FOXSports.com