Tony Takes Gatorade Duel
Tony Stewart led twice for 37 laps to win his Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500. As a result, the two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion will start third in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
The win was a milestone achievement for Joe Gibbs Racing, as Stewart’s trip to victory lane marked the 100th professional victory for the 16-year-old racing organization.
JGR’s win tally features 54 point-paying Nextel Cup wins, seven non-point paying Nextel Cups wins, five NASCAR Busch Series wins, 22 NHRA Top Fuel wins and 12 NHRA Funny Car wins.
Stewart, who joined the Nextel Cup Series with JGR in 1999, accounts for 35 of those victories, six of which were non-points races (1999 Winston Open at Charlotte; 2001, 2002 and 2007 Budweiser Shootouts at Daytona; and the 2005 and 2007 Gatorade Duels).
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet, joined Stewart in the first Duel and finished fifth. Last year’s Rookie of the Year will start the Daytona 500 in ninth.
J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, was the lone JGR driver in the second Duel race. He finished sixth to secure the 12th-place starting spot in the Daytona 500.
Friday and Saturday mean two more days of practice before the 49th running of the Daytona 500, a race where Stewart has led 224 of an available 606 laps (37 percent) in the past three seasons.
Finishing behind Stewart in the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race was Dale Earnhardt Jr., while Jeff Burton, David Gilliland and Hamlin rounded-out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Michael Waltrip, Casey Mears and Kenny Schrader comprised the remainder of the top-10
Winning the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race was Jeff Gordon. Behind him were Kurt Busch, David Stremme, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, who finished second through fifth, respectively. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Yeley, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Joe Nemechek and Tony Raines.
Normally, winning the second Gatorade Duel earns the driver a fourth-place starting spot in the Daytona 500. But after his car failed post-race inspection, Gordon was moved to 42nd in the 43-car field. Accordingly, the entire outside row moved up one spot, with Kurt Busch earning the fourth-place starting spot.
With the Gatorade Duel races having been decided, the field for the Daytona 500 is set. On the pole is Gilliland, and alongside him is Ricky Rudd, his teammate at Robert Yates Racing. By notching the two quickest times during time trials last Sunday, both drivers were able to lock themselves into position for the Daytona 500. All the remaining drivers, however, had to race their way to a starting spot in the Gatorade Duel.
Those who didn’t make the cut and will be forced to watch the Daytona 500 from the sidelines are Mike Bliss, Jeremy Mayfield, Paul Menard, Kenny Wallace, Kevin Lepage, Derrike Cope, Stanton Barrett, Regan Smith, Bill Elliott, Frank Kimmel, Brandon Whitt, James Hylton, Eric McClure, Kirk Shelmerdine, Ward Burton, Brian Vickers, Mike Skinner and A.J. Allmendinger.
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