Daytona Beach, Fla. ? For some drivers, the twin 125-mile qualifying races are simply a warmup for the Daytona 500. For others, they are the only chance to get into Sunday’s race.

“It can be intense,” said Ricky Rudd, getting ready to race in his 26th consecutive Daytona 500 and an equal number of qualifying races. “There are a lot of guys here where that race is the only race they’re thinking about. They’re not even thinking about the Daytona 500.”

“If they don’t do well in the 125s, they won’t have a Daytona 500. Other guys, like us, we’re pretty good in points and, with our qualifying speed, the race has a little different meaning to us.”

In Daytona’s unique qualifying format, Jeff Green and Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured the front row starting spots in the 43-car lineup for the 500-miler by turning in the fastest speeds Monday in time trials.

Positions 3-30 will go to the top 14 finishers in today’s Gatorade Twin 125s, excepting Green and Earnhardt.

The 31st through 36th spots will be filled by the fastest drivers from Monday’s qualifying session who don’t make it in the 125, with the remaining places going to the highest-finishing teams in last year’s car-owner points not already in the race.

Rudd is fifth on the speed chart and thus is guaranteed a starting spot. That’s important, because the qualifying races often can turn into wild, metal-bending affairs as desperate drivers try to make the move that will get them into the 500, NASCAR’s biggest race.

“Our goal is to get through this in one piece with a good starting position for the 500,” Rudd said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to win this race in 2000, but the biggest thing that we want to do is have a car to run in the 500.

Nascar driver Tony Stewart, right, pushes his car with his crew members to a testing session for the Daytona 500. Stewart was among the drivers preparing Wednesday for Sunday's Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“If you go into the 125 and end up three- or four-wide and have the attitude of going out to win the race or knock the wall down, that doesn’t make sense for us in our position.”

Not so for rookie Greg Biffle, who tried and failed to make the race last year. He was 21st in time trials and has no car-owner points, so his best bet is to race his way in.

“Hopefully, I can position myself to stay up in the top 10 because the racing won’t be as frantic up there as the race from about 13th to 17th,” said Biffle, last year’s Busch Series champion. “That’s where they’re fighting for the transfer spot.”

Kurt Busch, third in points last year, doesn’t have to worry, but he knows what it’s like to need a good finish in the 125s.

“For me, it’s been tremendously nerve-racking just because the past two years, we were so far back in points and we qualified so poorly that we had to be in the top 14,” Busch said. “Fortunately, we finished 12th and 11th and barely squeaked by. It’s a different feeling going into this year’s race. We can get some work done in the 125, as far as understanding the draft a bit more.”

Busch said drivers need to be aware of what’s going on around them, whatever their situation.

“You look at it and you study your lineup, and when you look at what happened yesterday with a couple of guys wrecking in practice, now you’ve got some guys in their backups and starting in the back (in the 125s).

“If you’re around that bubble position, where people aren’t in the show yet and the draft is still tight, it’s going to be a mad dash to the finish line on that last lap. You have to know what everybody’s scenario is and keep that in mind.”

There is an added element of strategy in the 125s this year, thanks to NASCAR’s decision to use smaller gas tanks here in an effort to break up the big, dangerous packs of cars so common here.

It has been routine for the drivers to complete the 50 laps on Daytona International Speedway’s 21/2-mile without a pit stop. Today, everyone will have to stop once.

“Everyone’s got to do it,” Rudd said. “No one can afford to put on four tires if the track stays green. They’re going to have to put on two tires, or gas and go.”