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Your 2017 Daytona 500 qualifying races primer

Welcome to the first points-paying edition of the Can-Am Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500.

NASCAR’s new points format means the traditional 150-mile qualifying races to set the field for the Daytona 500 will award points to the top 10 drivers in each race. Each race winner will get 10 points while 10th in each Duel will receive a single point (you can figure out how points for second-ninth are awarded). The points mean NASCAR will have official points standings before the first race of the season.

The points given for the Duels are just like the points NASCAR will pay for the first two segments of races in 2017. The top 10 teams in each of the first two segments of all 36 Cup Series races will be awarded on a sliding 10-1 scale for the top 10. Full points, as always, will be awarded at the conclusion of official races.

• Just 42 cars and drivers are entered for the 40 spots in the race. 36 of the 40 spots are guaranteed to teams with charters. And with non-charter team drivers Brendan Gaughan and Elliott Sadler already qualified into the race via their speeds in Sunday’s qualifying session, only two spots are up for grabs for four drivers.

Those four drivers racing for the final two spots are Reed Sorenson, Corey LaJoie, DJ Kennington and Timmy Hill. Sorenson and LaJoie are in the first Duel while Kennington and Hill are in the second.

The top finishing non-charter driver in each Duel makes the Daytona 500. But Gaughan (Duel 1) finishes ahead of Sorenson and LaJoie and/or Sadler (2) finishes ahead of Kennington and Hill, the currently non-qualified driver(s) with the best qualifying speed in each Duel make the race. Sorenson qualified faster than LaJoie and Kennington was faster than Hill.

• Much like Talladega, when he was forced to race on his own while his teammates bonded together at the back of the pack, Denny Hamlin is on his own in the second Duel. His three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez (along with Furniture Row’s Martin Truex Jr.) are in the first Duel. Hamlin does have the assistance of Furniture Row’s Erik Jones in Duel 2, but the race is Jones’ first plate race in a Cup Series car.

Chase Elliott is on his own in Duel 1. His three Hendrick teammates (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson) are in Duel 2.

• Rain is in the forecast for much of the day at Daytona. If the rain lingers and the track isn’t able to be dried in time to run the races as scheduled Thursday night, the Duels will be run Friday before the Truck Series race.

DUEL 1 LINEUP

1. Chase Elliott
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Kyle Busch
7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8. Daniel Suarez
9. Joey Logano
10. Trevor Bayne
11. Paul Menard
12. Jamie McMurray
13. Aric Almirola
14. Landon Cassia
15. Matt DiBenedetto
16. Chris Buescher
17. Brendan Gaughan
18. Cole Whitt
19. Reed Sorenson
20. Joey Gase
21. Corey LaJoie

DUEL LINEUP 2

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2. Clint Bowyer
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Kasey Kahne
5. Ryan Newman
6. Ty Dillon
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Kyle Larson
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Erik Jones
11. Kurt Busch
12. Danica Patrick
13. Austin Dillon
14. AJ Allmendinger
15. Michael McDowel
16. David Ragan
17. Michael Waltrip
18. Elliott Sadler
19. DJ Kennington
20. Jeffrey Earnhardt
21. Timmy Hill

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!