DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Judging from how we ran in Thursday night’s duel race we have a lot of work to do before Sunday’s Daytona 500. The only good news is that we didn’t get involved in any wrecks and kept our No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour Energy Toyota from sustaining any damage.

We got to the front but couldn’t stay there. Finishing 12th is not what we wanted or expected. We need to make some corrections in our upcoming practice sessions the next two days. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot you can do to the car regarding adjustments at a superspeedway race. We’ve been in this position before and hopefully we can find more speed and better handling before Sunday.

Due to our finish in the duel race, our unofficial starting position for the 500 is 24th (waiting for official results from NASCAR). At a superspeedway race your starting position is not as important. Last year we started 35th and had the lead with two laps remaining. The year before we started 28th and lost the race by one-hundredth-of-a-second.

Leading up to the duel race I was having a good day. I did an autograph session at the Bass Pro Shops across the street from the racetrack. It was once again a feel-good session to see the passionate fans from different parts of the country. We had the same success Wednesday night at the Daytona Beach Furniture Row store signing.

Then later in the afternoon I had a meet-and-greet with three staff members from the Howard Stern show, including Ronnie the limo driver, who is not only Howard’s bodyguard and limo driver but also a character on the SiriusXM radio show. He’s a big race fan. Ronnie (Ronald Mund) was accompanied by the show’s comedian Shuli Egar and Scott the engineer.

A couple of years ago I was at the Sirius studio in New York to do an interview on the Jenny McCarthy show. I was also at the SiriusXM studios to do interviews after winning the championship last year. They were both neat experiences.

It’s late here in Daytona Beach and time to get some sleep. My next stop is Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. to take part in Darrell Gwynn’s charity fishing tournament on Lake Lloyd, located in the infield at Daytona International Speedway.