Can-Am Duels 2017: Time and TV schedule for Daytona 500 qualifying

Austin Dillon doesn’t care if he wrecks his Chevrolet in the Daytona 500 qualifying races Thursday night. He doesn’t like his car and believes his backup is as good if not better than the primary No. 3 car. Kevin Harvick’s mindset is if NASCAR is going to handout a trophy for winning a race — even an inconsequential one — then he wants that trophy.

Both Dillon and Harvick plan to aggressively pursue the best result possible in their respective Can-Am Duels, a race many drivers once treated with hesitation for fear they would compromise their chances in Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2 p.m. ET, Fox). The change in mindset is brought about by NASCAR now awarding points on a 10-to-1 scale for the top 10 drivers in each of the qualifying heats, as part of a new staged format that sections races into thirds.

“There’s 20 points on the line and a trophy,” Harvick said Wednesday at Daytona 500 media day. “You have what I feel like is a good, fast car. We want to go and win every trophy that we can.

“You don’t want to go out and lollygag on Thursday — you’re not learning anything and it’s really defeating the purpose considering you can try and gain the maximum amount of points.”

The duels have always been a balance between risk vs. reward. Some saw the race as their last hope to solidify a spot in the Daytona 500. For others, with the knowledge they were locked in, the important objective was keeping the car in one piece and not putting your team in a bind, especially in a race where a poor starting spot could be easily overcome because of the draft. Essentially, the duels were a matter of perseverance.

But now, the majority of the 42 drivers divided between the duels are incentivized to run as close to the front as possible. If a driver chooses to separate from the pack and hang toward the back, it becomes a challenge to recoup the lost track position and makes scoring any points difficult.

“My car qualified 26th, so I’m going to be super aggressive and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out,” Dillon said. “We’ll pull out a new one because it hasn’t been fast yet. Hopefully it shows some speed in the next practice and if not, we’re going to force it to in the duel.”

Because of the team charter system, 36 spots in Sunday’s 40-car field are known -- though the exact lineup still needs to be determined. Provided they keep their cars in one piece, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt will start first and second, respectively, as they were the fastest in qualifying.

Also assured a spot are Brendan Gaughan and Elliott Sadler, although both are with non-chartered teams. Sadler and Gaughan were fastest among the six open teams, therefore each is in regardless of where they finish on Thursday.

Not surprisingly because of the circumstances, Gaughan and Sadler plan to race conservatively in their duel. They will instead focus primarily on preparing for Sunday.

“We only got one car, we don’t have a team of guys to rebuild this thing if we ding it up,” Gaughan said. “I gotta be cautious until Sunday.”

Timmy Hill, D.J. Kennington, Corey LaJoie, and Reed Sorenson are racing for the final two transfer slots. LaJoie and Sorenson are in the first duel; Hill and Kennington are in the second.