Massimiliano “Max” Papis is happy simply to be in NASCAR racing. A 40-year-old Italian road racer with an international reputation who has tried to cross the bridge to stock cars in recent years, he seems perpetually overjoyed to be in NASCAR circles.

RESULTS: Gatorade Duel One

On Thursday, in a tense setting in a Daytona 500 qualifying race in which he faced tough odds, his fun was raised to a whole new level.

Racing on older tires and sliding around the speedway in wild traffic on the final lap, Papis finished 15th, enough to put his Toyota in the lineup for the 500.

Papis thus will compete in stock car racing’s biggest event for the first time.

“Who could imagine a guy from a little village of 800 in northern Italy in the Daytona 500?” he asked.

Crew chief Bootie Barker, pit road boss for the Papis team, took a gamble similar to that of Chad Knaus, crew chief for race winner Jimmie Johnson. When a caution flag flew with six laps to go, Barker and Knaus left their drivers on the track while virtually everyone else pitted.

It was obvious on the first lap after the restart that the Papis Toyota didn’t have grip as solid as those racing around him. He held on to finish high enough to qualify for the 500, though, even as Johnson was holding on to win the race.

“It was kind of hairy, sliding around, and everyone was pushing me,” Papis said. “I kept it wide open as hard as I could and slid around and made it happen.”

Papis seemed as thrilled as if he had won the race.

“It’s difficult to explain in words what this means to me,” he said. “I’m speechless. Those guys out there are the best of the best in the world. When you can compete with them, it’s something. Having Mark Martin come over to me (after the race) and say he was really happy I made the show means the world to me.

“This track for me is really special. I came here in 1996 to run my first-ever race in America (the Daytona 24-hour sports car race). For me, this being the first 500 is a dream coming true.”

RESULTS: Gatorade Duel One

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.