Allmendinger, Mayfield, Riggs and Smith Earn Starting Spots in Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon, Thursday afternoon's Gatorade Duels at Daytona was a nervous affair because they didn't want to hurt their race cars for Sunday's Daytona 500.

But for four other drivers, just finishing the race high enough in the running order was downright breathtaking.

And for one driver, the feat of qualifying for the Daytona 500 was enough to bring tears to his eyes.
A.J. Allmendinger, Jeremy Mayfield, Scott Riggs and Regan Smith were the four drivers who earned a starting spot in Sunday's Daytona 500 -- the season-opener of the NASCAR season that also doubles as the sport's biggest race -- after finishing just ahead of enough other previously unqualified drivers.

Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger -- they both qualified by way of their finish in the second race of the Duels -- were both incredibly emotional after the race thanks to the long odds they overcame. Allmendinger had to put on his sunglasses following a 10th-place finish secured his 20th-place Sunday start to cover up a few flowing tears.

"For me, you know, it's amazing," said Allmendinger. "There's so many emotions that run through. I've been so nervous over the last couple of days 'cause I've been in this position the last two years, but I really felt like this I deserved to be in the race -- that this team deserved to be in the race."

Allmendinger was overcoming long odds after learning just last week that his No. 44 -- a car he can only race for 10 races as of now in 2009 thanks to a lack of sponsorship -- wouldn't be automatically qualified under NASCAR's Top-35 rule that guarantees last season's Top 35 teams in owner points a spot in the first five races of 2009. The Richard Petty Motorsports team lost its guarantee after the sale of car numbers and their owner points shifted the standings.

Mayfield, on the other hand, was attempting to make the race with a team he put together "23 days ago" (his count) and a team of 15-20 total employees who had yet to recieve a paycheck. Yeah, the $200k+ the team will earn just for starting the race was a little needed.

His No. 41 All-Sport Toyota used a two-tire stop late in the race to earn some much needed track position, and the Owensboro, Ky.-native scored a 9th-place finish.

"We figured we got to make a run for the Daytona 500, got to gamble sometime. It was a gamble being here," said Mayfield. "Another gamble wasn't going to hurt us. We did that. It paid off for us."

"You just can't imagine the pressure that's on a driver and a team to do what we did today. To be out there, sliding around, running for your life," said the driver-owner. "[After the race] I couldn't even talk on the [in-car] radio."

Scott Riggs and Regan Smith were in equally stressful positions, but both secured spots in the "Great American Race."

Riggs, driving for the newly-formed and impressively small Tommy Baldwin Racing, took his unsponsored ride that was formed just six weeks ago to an eighth-place finish that earned him the 17th-starting spot in Sunday's race.

"This is grass-roots right now for us. I mean, you go to the shop, it's a lot of guys are just volunteers, passionate about racing," said Riggs. "They put their heart and soul into it from faith in Tommy, the whole organization. To be able to scrap something together from a month and a half ago to nothing, to be able to put something together, come here, run good, be pretty strong in the pack, get ourselves in the race, it speaks volumes for us."

Smith came to Daytona in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team that, as of just a few months, had planned to stop racing in 2009. Now, they're in the Daytona 500 -- thanks mainly to Tony Stewart's second-place effort in the same race.