Anthony Alfredo’s Daytona 500 Hopes End in Heartbreak After NASCAR Ruling

One has to feel for Anthony Alfredo, who experienced the highest of thrills and the harshest of disappointments in a short span after the second Daytona Duels qualifying race on Thursday. Alfredo finished the race in 18th place, which was enough to secure his spot in the coveted Daytona 500. Or, so he thought.

The news soon arrived that Alfredo’s car had failed post-race inspection, which nullified his result. NASCAR explained that a transaxle cooling hose and a driver cooling hose were not properly secured in Alfredo‘s No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet. They need to be fastened tightly in the car.

This infringement, though inadvertent, led to NASCAR disallowing his position and granting it to BJ McLeod, who finished right behind him in 19th place.

“Usually, they’re riveted and, as well, they’re taped. There are many ways of taping them. Obviously, different qualities of tape and so on. And unfortunately, this one was only taped, and the tape didn’t hold at all,” said Cup Series managing director Brad Moran, who also confirmed that this anomaly wasn’t found during the pre-race inspection.

Moran did not know how the hoses got loose and whether it happened during the qualifying race. The worst part is that Alfredo will not be able to appeal the decision.

Moran reasoned that the opportunity to appeal the decision was not there because the disqualification came in a qualifying race and not a points-paying main event. According to the rule book, qualifying races are treated the same way as qualifying laps.

Were the hoses disconnected intentionally?

Usually, when such technical infractions are found, it is because the team or the driver is trying to gain an unfair advantage. But NASCAR did not insinuate that any such intention was there in Alfredo’s infringement. Moran underlined that he could not comment on the purpose behind the hoses being disconnected.

“We don’t say the intent. Again, the rule is that it needs to stay connected. We’re not saying it was intentional; it was unintentional. Like I say, there was this one plus another hose that was off the car. It was still connected. We left the car intact. This piece [the transaxle cooling hose] was totally separated,” elaborated Moran.

The fact is that the decision has been taken, and there is no reversing it. The pain Alfredo must be going through is impossible to imagine.

The happiness of making it into the Daytona 500 was evident immediately after the race. Alfredo choked up with emotion while trying to get his words out and spoke about how much it meant to him after missing last year’s race.

It is a great tragedy that such an opportunity has been snatched from his hands. Hopefully, Alfredo will have better luck next time around.