2015 NASCAR Daytona 500 Starting Lineup

By Richard Tix

The Sprint Unlimited has passed. Coors Light Pole Qualifying is done. The Budweiser Duel 150's have been run. Now, we finally have the starting grid for the 2015 Daytona 500. Is it an easy to follow process to get to the starting lineup? No. But, it has been a fun ride with up's and downs. I don't want to speak for everyone, but in my mind the week was entertaining.

Qualifying had it's controversies, but in the end the wrecked cars in the first group don't seem like anything after the crashes in practice/duels. I'm still on the fence of not liking group qualifying for superspeedways. I just think that with so many other times in a weekend something could go wrong, that we shouldn't add more opportunities to risk safety and gamble that something bad could happen. The group qualifying does add a mix of entertainment compared to single car runs, but when do we draw the line? Everyone has a different opinion on that and I would continue to expect that.

America's attention span is getting shorter and shorter by the year, so I can see what NASCAR was thinking when adding group qualifying to superspeedways (it was also a money move to get more fans at qualifying). In my opinion I feel like single car would still work for the Daytona 500. Fans are waiting during the offseason to see cars back on the track, so the longer qualifying would still hold them over. True, not as many fans would probably go to the track for it, but that's on the fans (if you complain, then support the way you want by going, if you can).

NASCAR can cut down on some of its (million) practices and still use the single car runs. By the last few practices teams aren't going out anyways because they don't want to wreck there car. This still wont solve the issue of mid season stops at Talladega and Daytona, but single car runs may still work to start the season.

I am not against change in NASCAR, so I am open to opinions. I just don't like adding the opportunity while drivers are gambling out of almost necessity for more safety issues. Everyone has there own agenda in this type of qualifying. Some drivers are almost a lock to get in (points) while others have to scramble just to make it. Plus, after group qualifying you also have another scramble to get into the 500 during the Duel's. With so many small teams getting pressure left and right to make the 500 qualifying puts them in a tough spot.

After saying all of that (my opinion) I also think the format for the 500 will work better in year two (if they keep it this way). I think teams will realize that qualifying isn't going to be as big of an issue as teams made it. Really, for a small team, whats the difference in starting 12th in a Duel or 24th? The field changes so much during Duels that teams shouldn't be as concerned about qualifying (when they have a very small chance of winning the pole) and focus more on keeping it clean for the duel.

I think that in hindsight teams might realize this, which may help keep cars clean during qualifying runs. But the issue will still remain for the other three superspeedway races since they do not have a duel format after qualifying. Should a duel style format or heat races be used? That is up for debate and I would love you hear your ideas.

Lets get onto the 2015 NASCAR Daytona 500 Starting Lineup.

2015 Daytona 500 Starting Grid
Row	Inside	Outside	How They Got In
1	Jeff Gordon	Jimmie Johnson	Top two qualifiers (Pole Qualifying)
2	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Kyle Busch	Race winners (Inside: First race; Outside: Second race)
3	Joey Logano	Carl Edwards	Top 15 from Duel races
4	Tony Stewart	Greg Biffle	Top 15 from Duel races
5	Clint Bowyer	Martin Truex Jr.	Top 15 from Duel races
6	Kevin Harvick	Ryan Blaney	Top 15 from Duel races
7	Kasey Kahne	Reed Sorenson	Top 15 from Duel races
8	Jamie McMurray	Mike Wallace	Top 15 from Duel races
9	Landon Cassill	Justin Allgaier	Top 15 from Duel races
10	Cole Whitt	Danica Patrick	Top 15 from Duel races
11	Paul Menard	Ryan Newman	Top 15 from Duel races
12	Michael McDowell	Kurt Busch	Top 15 from Duel races
13	JJ Yeley	David Gilliland	Top 15 from Duel races
14	Michael Annett	David Ragan	Top 15 from Duel races
15	Kyle Larson	Austin Dillon	Top 15 from Duel races
16	Ty Dillon	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Top 15 from Duel races (Last transfer spots)
17	Aric Almirola	Michael Waltrip	Four fastest qualifiers from any round
18	Matt Kenseth	Johnny Sauter	Four fastest qualifiers from any round
19	Trevor Bayne	Sam Hornish Jr.	Owner points
20	Brad Keselowski	AJ Allmendinger	Owner points
21	Casey Mears	Denny Hamlin	Owner points
22	Bobby Labonte		Past champion

*Note a few drivers will be moving to the back of the field because of going to back up cars

So, who do you got winning the 2015 Daytona 500? Let me know in the comments, on Google + (Richard Tix), or on Twitter (@NASCARBTW) and you can make this years all new Fan Vote Leaderboard. I will be keeping a running list of who predicts the weekly race winner the most all season! 

Pre-Daytona Articles

• 2015 Daytona 500 Preview
• 2015 Preseason Power Rankings