In the instant the green flag fell on Daytona 500 qualifying, the gong show that many were expecting with the introduction of group qualifying came to fruition.
Attempting to better jockey themselves with the partner they needed to post a solid lap, nearly every driver pulled out of their stall and funneled towards the end of pit road. And what happens when 25 drivers all gun for the same position, well, you can see what unfolded. Some had to take to the grass to escape hitting another, while others appeared to make circles.
Eventually everyone made it onto Daytona International Speedway without further incident, but that proved to be a fleeting moment. Running in large packs as mandated by NASCAR following the eradication of single-car qualifying runs, trouble soon struck.
Attempting to stunt the momentum of those behind him, Reed Sorenson cut in front of Clint Bowyer sending both into the Turn 1 wall. The impact was significant with both cars destroyed, an especially cruel fate for Sorenson, whose team has little sponsorship and no backup car.
Understandably Bowyer was livid. But his anger wasn't directed towards Sorenson, whose circumstances and level of desperation he understood. Bowyer's venom, instead, was at NASCAR for installing a system which almost guarantees what occurred.
"There's no reason to be out here," Bowyer said. "It's NASCAR's fault for putting us out in the middle of this crap for nothing.
"We used to come down here and worry about who would sit on the pole in the biggest race of the year. Now all we do is come down here and worry about a (small team) like (Sorenson's) out of desperation is going to knock us out of the Daytona 500."
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