Stewart, Kenseth Score Gatorade Duel Wins At Daytona

It was a day of fast speeds and victories for some, while others saw their dreams of racing in Sunday’s Daytona 500 come to an end.

For Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth, it was as good as it gets, as they scored victories in their respective 150-mile Gatorade Duel qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway Thursday.

For several drivers, two-time Daytona champs Bill Elliott and Michael Waltrip, along with Kenny Wallace, Robert Richardson, Jr., J.J. Yeley, and Mike Wallace, SpeedWeeks has come to an end, as they will go home after failing to make the field for the Great American Race.

Tony Stewart passed Dale Earnhardt, Jr. coming to the white flag to take the lead, and would collect the win when the caution flew for an accident on the backstretch in a wild finish to the first Gatorade Duel qualifier.

Earnhardt, Jr. had passed Stewart the previous lap with drafting help from Carl Edwards, but Stewart would storm back to the top spot with the white flag in sight.  When the yellow flag came out for an accident on the backstretch that involved Stewart’s driver, Danica Patrick, Stewart was assured the win.

The deciding caution flew after contact between Jamie McMurray and Aric Almirola sent Almirola into Patrick.  Both cars spun, with Patrick making hard contact with the inside safer barrier.  She walked away uninjured, but her car was totaled.  The resulting caution would end the event.

“I think we showed the rest of the field that we have a car that has good speed,” Stewart said after the victory.  “That’s a really strong point, just like Trevor Bayne showed last year he had a strong car, so people wanted to go with him. Hopefully that will work for us on Sunday, too.”

Edwards would lead the first lap of the event, but he would find himself fighting with Stewart, Earnhardt, Jr. and others as the pack racing saw positions changing several times each lap.

By the eighth lap, Earnhardt, Jr. settled into the top spot as the leaders settled into single file formation.

The caution would fly for a hard crash in the first turned, triggered when David Gilliland was tipped by Michael McDowell, sending Gilliland’s Ford up the track and into the outside wall, collecting Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul Menard in the process.

All three were done, with Montoya’s car appearing to have the most damage.  All three walked away uninjured.

Brad Keselowski also received some damage in the melee, but was able to continue.

As the leaders hit pit road, Marcos Ambrose and Denny Hamlin stayed out, and would move to the front.  Hamlin would jump out front on the restart.  While the leaders again settled into a single file formation, no one driver appeared to have an edge.

Stewart took over the top spot on lap 44 when Hamlin and Ambrose made their pit stops.  Kevin Harvick moved to second, with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. third.

Between the new fuel injection system and the early pit stops, several teams were worried about their fuel mileage going into the latter stages of the 60-lap event.

Those worries would go away when Michael Waltrip crashed on the backstretch.  Waltrip spun as he tried to come back up on the race track after a pit stop with eight laps go, hitting the backstretch wall.  The crash ended Waltrip’s race, and means he will miss Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“I just went the wrong way and lost the car,” Waltrip said. “I feel like I let everybody down. I raced my way to the front, and then I let them down. It’s just really hard.”

Most of the field pitted for fuel, leaving Stewart and Harvick on the track by themselves.

Stewart would jump back out front on the restart with Harvick in tow, setting up the finish.

Robby Gordon would come back from early trouble to lock himself into the Daytona 500, along with Michael McDowell.  Trevor Bayne will make the field based on his speed.  Terry Labonte didn’t finish the event, but will start on Sunday by either his qualifying speed or by using the past champion’s provisional.

By contrast, the second Duel was calm.  At least until the last lap.

Greg Biffle had led most of the event, but a move to block a run from teammate Matt Kenseth, aided by a big push from Jimmie Johnson coming to the white flag, spoiled Biffle’s day.  Kenseth would move away for the win while Regan Smith and Johnson bounced off each other down the backstretch fighting for second.  Smith would come away with the position, with Johnson settling for third.

“With that push, it would never have gotten done,” Kenseth said. “Greg lost his drafting partner. We were able to separate him and the 78 (Smith), and we had such a huge run that Greg was kind of a sitting duck. I was going so fast with Jimmie’s push that we were able to make it past.”

Biffle jumped out front early, but gave the spot up five laps in to Kenseth.  Kyle Busch and Joey Logano would also push their way out front during the opening laps before Biffle regained the top spot on lap 23.

The front pack would run mostly single file, as the race went wire-to-wire without a caution, leading up to the exciting finish.

Dave Blaney and Joe Nemechek would race their way into the Sunday’s Daytona 500.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Gatorade Duels At Daytona – Feb. 23, 2012

Race 1
1.  (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 60, $50,000.
2.  (2) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 60, $35,000.
3.  (3) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 60, $30,000.
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5.  (1) Carl Edwards, Ford, 60, $23,000.
6. (21) Michael McDowell, Ford, 60, $20,600.
7. (12) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 60, $19,500.
8. (10) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 60, $18,500.
9. (25) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 60, $18,475.
10. (16) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 60, $18,450.
11.  (4) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 60, $18,425.
12.  (5) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 60, $18,400.
13. (11) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 60, $18,375.
14.  (9) David Ragan, Ford, 60, $18,350.
15.  (7) Aric Almirola, Ford, 60, $18,325.
16. (17) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, Accident, 59, $18,300.
17. (20) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 59, $18,275.
18. (19) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, Accident, 51, $18,225.
19. (15) David Stremme, Toyota, Vibration, 27, $18,200.
20. (24) Mike Wallace, Ford, Engine, 23, $18,175.
21. (18) Terry Labonte, Ford, Vibration, 12, $18,125.
22. (23) David Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 8, $18,100.
23. (14) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, Accident, 8, $18,050.
24.  (8) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, Accident, 8, $18,025.
25. (22) Landon Cassill, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $18,000.

Average Speed:  159.104 mph.
Time of Race:  56 Mins, 34 Secs.
Margin of Victory:  Under caution.
Caution Flags:  3 for 8 laps.
Lead Changes:  8 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   C. Edwards 1; T. Stewart 2-3; C. Edwards 4; D. Earnhardt Jr. 5-9; M. Ambrose 10-14; D. Hamlin 15; T. Stewart 16; D. Hamlin 17-42; T. Stewart 43-60.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  D. Hamlin 2 times for 27 laps; T. Stewart 3 times for 21 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 1 time for 5 laps; M. Ambrose 1 time for 5 laps; C. Edwards 2 times for 2 laps.

Race 2
1.  (7) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 60, $55,725.
2. (18) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 60, $40,725.
3.  (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 60, $35,725.
4. (16) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 60, $30,725.
5.  (1) Greg Biffle, Ford, 60, $28,725.
6.  (9) Joey Logano, Toyota, 60, $26,325.
7. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 60, $25,225.
8.  (3) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 60, $24,225.
9.  (8  Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 60, $24,200.
10. (10) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 60, $24,175.
11.  (5) Mark Martin, Toyota, 60, $24,150.
12. (14) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 60, $24,125.
13.  (4) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 60, $24,100.
14. (15) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 59, $24,075.
15. (24) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 59, $24,050.
16. (19) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 59, $24,025.
17. (17) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 59, $24,000.
18.  (2) Casey Mears, Ford, 59, $23,950.
19. (22) Robert Richardson Jr., Toyota, 58, $23,925.
20. (20) Bill Elliott, Toyota, 58, $23,900.
21. (13) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 57, $23,850.
22. (11) Tony Raines, Ford, Vibration, 9, $23,825.
23. (21) David Reutimann, Toyota, Vibration, 6, $23,775.
24. (23) JJ Yeley, Toyota, Engine, 4, $23,750.

Average Speed:  194.175 mph.
Time of Race:  46 Mins, 23 Secs.
Margin of Victory:  0.209 Seconds.
Caution Flags:  None.
Lead Changes:  7 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders:   G. Biffle 1-3; M. Kenseth 4-12; J. Logano 13-17; Kyle Busch 18-22; G. Biffle 23-39; J. Nemechek 40; G. Biffle 41-59; M. Kenseth 60.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  G. Biffle 3 times for 39 laps; M. Kenseth 2 times for 10 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 5 laps; J. Logano 1 time for 5 laps; J. Nemechek 1 time for 1 lap.