Larry McReynolds redefines failure?

On SPEED Channel's NASCAR broadcast, Larry McReynolds said to all the drivers that didn't qualify for the Daytona 500, that it doesn't mean they failed.

Well I am not sure what else one would call it. The Webster's Dictionary defines failure as "
omission of occurrence or performance; specifically : a failing to perform a duty or expected action"

So if someone did not qualify for the race, that means they did not achieve the goal or expected outcome. That is unfortunate, but is most certainly a failure.

On the positive note however, Thomas Edison said "if you fail a hundred times at something, you still learn a hundred ways not to do it the next time…"