After tonight’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, here are the key dates and times you’ll need to know for the rest of the Speedweeks preparation leading up to the Daytona 500.
Daytona 500 2012: Key Dates And Schedule For Speedweeks
Daytona 500 inspection began Friday – where Jimmie Johnson’s car was found to have some illegal modifications – and practices for qualifying were held on Saturday.
The official qualifying session will take place on Sunday (1:05 p.m. ET, FOX), but it is different than every other qualifying session throughout the year. Sunday’s qualifying will only lock in two drivers (the pole and outside pole positions), and several other drivers will qualify based on speed.
On Wednesday, drivers will have their last chance of practice before the Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races, which take place the following day at 2 p.m. ET. The Duels consist of 150 miles and will determine the starting order for the Daytona 500.
Final practices for the Daytona 500 take place Friday and Saturday, with “Happy Hour” at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. The race itself takes place on Sunday, Feb. 26, starting with driver introductions at 12:15 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will also have races at Daytona:
- On Friday, the Nationwide Series will have qualifying at 2 p.m. ET followed by the DRIVE4COPD 300 the next day at 1:15 p.m. ET. That race consists of 300 miles in 120 laps.
- The Truck Series will begin qualifying Friday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET, followed by the NextEra Energy Resources 250 later that night at 7:30 p.m. The race consists of 250 miles on the track in 100 laps.
For more on the Daytona 500 stick to this StoryStream and vist SB Nation NASCAR.
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