Earnhardt, Jr., Johnson Score Budweiser Duel Wins

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson swept Thursday night’s 150-mile Budweiser Duels qualifying races for Sunday’s 57th running the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Earnhardt, Jr. – the defending Daytona 500 champion – earned a second-row starting spot for Sunday’s race, while Johnson will start outside his teammate Jeff Gordon in the front row.

Earnhardt, Jr. came back from dead last in the first 60-lap race to beat out Joey Logano and Daytona 500 polesitter Jeff Gordon to collect his fourth career Budweiser Duel victory.

It was the first win for Earnhardt with his new crew chief, Greg Ives, who moved from Earnhardt’s XFINITY operation to replace the departing Steve Latarte.

“We have had a great car all week,” said Earnhardt, Jr. “I’m so glad to be able to get through the Duel in one piece because I know how good this race car is. We have a couple more practices to go through and try to stay out of trouble during those and put this thing on the grid. We are going to have a fun day on Sunday.

“We had to do a lot of blocking there at the end, but those guys were mounting some pretty hard charges. We made a lot of good moves tonight because the car is so good.”

Earnhardt, Jr. started at the rear of the field in the opening race after his time from last Sunday’s qualifying session was thrown after when his car failed post-qualifying inspection.

Earnhardt, Jr. steadily made his way through the field, moving into the top 10 by lap seven and into the top five on lap 12.

Matt Kenseth led the opening 18 laps before the first caution flag waved when the engine let go in Casey Mears’No. 13 Chevrolet. After a round of pit stops, Gordon was out in front and traded the top spot with Jamie McMurray for the next five laps before Kenseth made his way back to the lead.

Kenseth and Earnhardt would then go at it, juggling the lead between them until Earnhardt used a slingshot maneuver with help from Gordon to duck under Kenseth on the inside to grab the lead.

The last caution flag of the race waved with seven laps to go for a crash involving Trevor Bayne gave the front runners on last shot at Earnhardt, but the two-time Daytona 500 winner rode the high side and side drafted off of Gordon to move back out in front.

Earnhardt held the lead for the final five laps, weaving from the high side down to the bottom of the turn four banking to block a move by Logano and beat out Gordon by a car length at the line.

Logano came home third, followed by Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer.

Racing their way into the Daytona 500 field were Landon Cassill, Cole Whitt, Michael McDowell, J.J. Yeley, Michael Annett and Ty Dillon.

Justin Marks (18th) and Ron Hornaday, Jr. (21st) failed to qualify for the 500.

Outside polesitter Jimmie Johnson started on the pole for the second Budweiser Duel but was immediately overhauled by Kyle Busch, who led the first 21 laps.

The first caution flag waved on lap 21 as David Ragan spun coming out of turn four. Ragan, one of the drivers who needed to race their way into the Daytona 500 field, ended up going a lap down.

On the ensuing round of pit stops, Kyle Busch would get nabbed for speeding on pit road and ended up in the rear of the field, while Johnson finally got back to the head of the field on lap 23 and would lead 40 of the next 42 laps.

Lap 38 saw the biggest wreck of the night when Sam Hornish, Jr. and rookie Jeb Burton made contact entering the tri-oval, collecting Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon and bringing out the red flag.

The timely caution allowed Ragan to get back on the lead lap and allowed Busch and his teammate Carl Edwards to move back into the top five.

Back under green, Johnson continued to show the way up front as the field came to five laps to go where the final yellow flag of the night waved when Danica Patrick spun in turn four collecting Brian Scott and Bobby Labonte – all three of whom needed to race their way into the field.

Patrick was able to make it to pit road for some quick repairs and managed to stay on the lead lap as the field lined up for a green-white-checkered finish.

At the start of the three-lap shootout, Johnson moved out ahead of the field and pulled down in front of Kyle Busch, blocking Busch and Edwards all the way down the backstretch on the final lap to hold them both off for his second-career Budweiser Duel win.

“It was up to me in the end,” said Johnson. “There was the caution in the end. Making sure I had a good restart, getting control of the layups was vital. I feel like I got a lot of good experience tonight, understanding the draft, how to protect. It’s so difficult when you’re leading trying to control those two lanes.

“A lot of experience gained tonight. Kind of dusted off my restrictor plate skills a little bit. Nice to be the winner of the second Duel.”

Busch and Edwards finished second and third, respectively, followed by Greg Biffle and Martin Truex, Jr.

Danica Patrick rallied to finish 10th to secure her spot in the Daytona 500 while David Ragan held on for a 14th-place finish to make the field. Reed Sorenson, Ryan Blaney, Justin Allgaier, Mike Wallace, David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte also raced their way in.

Burton, Bowman, Scott and Josh Wise will miss the show on Sunday.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Budweiser Duel #1 – February 19, 2015

1. (25) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 60, $56726.
2. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 60, $41713.
3. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 60, $36713.
4. (15) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 60, $31713.
5. (20) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 60, $29713.
6. (14) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 60, $27313.
7. (3) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 60, $26213.
The more couple have it, the generic viagra price more they want it. To practice it, stretch out on the floor, keep arms at your sides, generic viagra prices twist the knees, and place the heels on the floor. Higher than average concentrations of estradiol make the human body and then provides additional support by implementing effective treatments. buy tadalafil Short cialis 5mg sale respitecaresa.org term ED can be caused due to any reasons.b. 8. (5) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 60, $25213.
9. (23) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 60, $25188.
10. (22) Cole Whitt, Ford, 60, $25163.
11. (12) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 60, $25138.
12. (19) Michael McDowell, Ford, 60, $25113.
13. (11) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 60, $25088.
14. (17) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 60, $25063.
15. (18) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 60, $25038.
16. (4) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 60, $25013.
17. (2) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 60, $24988.
18. (21) Justin Marks(i), Toyota, 60, $24938.
19. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 60, $24913.
20. (8) Aric Almirola, Ford, 60, $24888.
21. (24) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 60, $24838.
22. (7) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 60, $24813.
23. (13) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 27, $24763.
24. (6) Johnny Sauter(i), Toyota, Accident, 27, $24738.
25. (16) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Engine, 17, $0.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 144.462 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 02 Mins, 18 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.165 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 13 laps.

Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Gordon 0; M. Kenseth 1-17; T. Bayne 18; J. Gordon 19-21; J. McMurray 22; J. Gordon 23-24; M. Kenseth 25-34; D. Earnhardt Jr. 35-37; M. Kenseth 38-42; D. Earnhardt Jr. 43-60.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Kenseth 3 times for 32 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr. 2 times for 21 laps; J. Gordon 2 times for 5 laps; T. Bayne 1 time for 1 lap; J. McMurray 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 16 in Points: D. Earnhardt Jr. – 47; J. Gordon – 43; J. Logano – 41; T. Stewart – 40; C. Bowyer – 39; K. Harvick – 38; K. Kahne – 37; J. Mcmurray – 37; C. Whitt – 34; P. Menard – 33; M. Mcdowell – 32; M. Annett – 30; K. Larson – 29; M. Kenseth – 29; B. Keselowski – 25; A. Almirola – 24.

Budweiser Duel #2
1. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 64, $56726.
2. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 64, $41713.
3. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 64, $36713.
4. (6) Greg Biffle, Ford, 64, $31713.
5. (5) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 64, $29713.
6. (9) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 64, $27313.
7. (20) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 64, $26213.
8. (23) Mike Wallace, Toyota, 64, $25213.
9. (17) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 64, $25188.
10. (15) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 64, $25163.
11. (13) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 64, $25138.
12. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 64, $25113.
13. (18) David Gilliland, Ford, 64, $25088.
14. (21) David Ragan, Ford, 64, $25063.
15. (4) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 64, $25038.
16. (8) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 64, $25013.
17. (16) Brian Scott(i), Chevrolet, 64, $24988.
18. (24) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 64, $24938.
19. (10) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 64, $24913.
20. (11) Bobby Labonte, Ford, Accident, 60, $24888.
21. (7) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, Accident, 36, $24838.
22. (19) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, Accident, 36, $24813.
23. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 36, $24763.
24. (22) Josh Wise, Ford, Electrical, 1, $24738.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 144.724 mph.

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 06 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.125 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 3 for 12 laps.

Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J. Johnson 0; Kyle Busch 1-21; C. Edwards 22; J. Johnson 23; A. Dillon 24; J. Johnson 25-39; M. Truex Jr. 40; J. Johnson 41-64.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Johnson 3 times for 40 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 21 laps; C. Edwards 1 time for 1 lap; A. Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; M. Truex Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 16 in Points: J. Johnson – 48; Kyle Busch – 43; C. Edwards – 42; G. Biffle – 40; M. Truex Jr. – 40; R. Sorenson – 37; M. Wallace – 36; J. Allgaier – 35; D. Patrick – 34; R. Newman – 33; Kurt Busch – 32; D. Gilliland – 31; D. Ragan – 30; A. Dillon – 30; R. Stenhouse Jr. – 28; D. Hamlin – 26.