The big day is finally here, and today 43 of the worlds best drivers will go out onto the track at Daytona International Speedway. Unlike other sports, the biggest event of the year is the first one. Then again, NASCAR doesn't have a play off; just 34 races in which to gain points and hope to come out on top. The hype of the two weeks of Speedweeks here at Daytona will come to a close today, with one driver taking home the big trophy, but more important come November is finishing this race well. Steve certainly has shown us over the last couple of weeks just how hard this Pennzoil team has worked. He had an impressive run in the Bud Shootout qualifier, finishing third, and a strong run in his Twin 125 qualifying race. He has topped the speed charts on 2 of the practice session, including last night's Happy Hour session. What a way to head into "the graddaddy" of all races.       The drivers took to the track for the first time on Friday, February 5th for the first open practice session of the year. Steve came here last month for testing, scoring a cumulative 38th fastest speed. The Pennzoil team comes to Daytona with a new interim tire changer - fellow driver Tom Hubert. Read the press release for details on this pairing. In Friday morning's practice they had the 29th fastest time at 47.287 (190.327 mph). It appears they chose not to go out in the afternoon practice, but did take 20 laps in the Bud Shootout practice afterwards.

      Saturday morning the drivers went out for practice and Steve came away with the 26th fastest time of 46.933 (191.762 mph). He drew the 17th starting spot for qualifying, and at the time of his qualifying was 10th fastest with a 2nd lap best time of 46.781 (192.386 mph). After all 58 drivers took to the track he ended up 26th. Jeff Gordon took the pole for the first time in his career, adding yet another milestone to his illustrious career. Others to sit on the provisional pole were Rusty Wallace, Mike Skinner, and Tony Stewart. Tony locked down the outside pole position in not only the first race of his rookie season, but his first Winston Cup race ever! ( I'd like to make my prediction NOW that Tony will take ROTY honors for 1999. It's a tight competition with Elliott Sadler and Buckshot Jones stepping up from Busch as well, but that's my prediction! )

      Second round qualifying began at 1 pm EST on Monday, Feb 8th. Based on his weekend performance I figured he'd stand on his time this year, however when he took to practice on Monday, he had the fastest car. Richard Childress gave him the qualifying engine that Dale Earnhardt used, and they picked up about 3/10 on their time. He turned a fastest lap time of 00:46.522 (193.456 mph). The team decided to go for it again, as they did last year, however this year did not go as well as last year. He did pick up one spot in time and now having the 25th fastest time at 193.456 mph. Dave Marcus was faster than him, so he didn't even achieve 2nd day fastest speed. The team was naturally disappointed they couldn't turn it on for the qualifying run, but they will race for the front in Thursday's Twin 125.

      Steve started 27th in his Twin 125 race, instead of 13th. With his impressive run in the Bud Shootout qualifier, he certainly showed the potential to race to the front of the pack and finish well in his race. Steve is eligible for a provisional spot this year, but the goal is always to finish well in this qualifying race and not have to rely on that. Steve did just that. All the details of Steve's run in his race can be found below in the Gatorade Twin 125s section. Steve was thrilled to face the press (left) after the race was over.

Tuesday none of the eight drivers who ran in second round qualifying decided to give it another run, so all the drivers took to the track for am practice.       Steve went out and ran 28 laps achieving a fastest lap time of 00:47.406 (189.849 mph), the 38th fastest speed. Wednesday they had two practice sessions scheduled, and the am practice went well for the team. They had the 7th fastest time, achieving a fast time of 00:46.903 (191.885 mph). They did go out and run in the afternoon practice for many laps as seen on ESPN, however his times/speeds were not listed anywhere. Friday was the next day of practice, as they ran the Gatorade Twin 125s on Thursday. There were 2 sessions practice scheduled, but the afternoon session was cancelled. Times/speeds have not been posted anywhere, but will be updated should they become available. Happy Hour, as always, is the finaly practice session before the cars go out for the race. Steve most certainly was able to get a good night's sleep, if he wasn't too excited, after posting the fastest time! He has achieved a top time of 46.834 (192.168 mph).
picture above from NASCAR Online

      The Bud Shootout was held on Sunday, February 7th, and Steve had a real good chance to run in it this year! He was the fastest in second day qualifying at Daytona last year, which put him into the pre-race shootout. If he had won, he would have gone on to race in the Bud Shootout which is comprised of all the pole sitters from 1998. To see a full list of the line-up, take a look at Jayski's Bud Shootout Lineup. Instead, Mike Skinner will go on to the Bud Shootout, which is a good compromise, as he IS the boss' teammate!

      Steve may not have won, but he ran one of the most impressive races since moving up to Winston Cup. He finished third, which is awesome coming from the 13th starting positions, as they only run for 25 laps. Better than that still, he was right up in the front pack, well within contention for a win, in just a couple of laps. Steve held down the third place spot for most of the race, only falling back a couple of spots briefly after a restart on lap 19. He just couldn't quite get the momentum to pass Robert Pressley who impressively held the second place spot down, and finished only .226 seconds behind Skinner. This may not have been a points race, heck, it might not have even been THE Bud Shootout, but Steve and the entire Pennzoil team impressed a lot of people with this race!

The Gatorade Twin 125's will be held on Thursday, February 11th, however, it won't be broadcast on TV until Saturday, Feb 13. The races will be broadcast following the Busch race, and is slated to start at 2:30 pm EST. I will post the results following the broadcast so as to not spoil it for anyone who chose to wait to watch!

      These are the qualifying races for the Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart locked down the top 2 spots for the Daytona 500 in first round qualifying on the 6th (see above) however, the 3rd thru 30th spots will be determined by these two races. The order of the races will be determined after the third round of qualifying is run on Wednesday Feb 10th. Anyone choosing to re-qualify in 2nd round will drop in order behind those who stood on their time from first round, as will any drivers choosing to run in third round qualifying drop behind those standing on their times after second round. The top 14 racers at the conclusion of each race will then lock down the next 28 spots for Sunday's race. After that, positions 31 thru 36 will be determined by the best cumulative speeds from all 3 rounds of qualifying, with positions 37-43 going to provisionals. (Remember, the 43rd spot is the past champions provisional, however if no past champion is eligible, it goes to the next driver on the list)

      Steve started 27th in the first of the two Twin 125s. He would have started 13th in the second race had he stood on his time from first round qualifying, but he decided to try to pick up his speed just in case he ran into any bad luck during this race. He proved in the Bud Shootout qualifier just how fast he can move to the front, so it wasn't a big gamble. Steve ran very well in his race, and avoided a first lap incident that happened only a few cars in front of him. He was patient, slowed down, helped to get the cars behind him to slow down, and with limited help from his spotter, due to all the smoke, he made it through safely. The crew breathed a sigh of relief once he was through! Within less than a third of the race Steve was in the top 15, and never lost sight of it. He was unable to get caught up with the pack in front of him where he could have had a chance to break the top 10. In the end, he came out with a 12th place finish, high enough to secure a spot for the Daytona 500 without having to rely on his speed nor a provisional. Now the team could relax and focus on getting the car ready for the race, where he has 200 laps to work his way up from his 23rd starting spot.

      DuraLube BigK 400 - February 22nd -

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