Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have shared the victories in the two Budweiser Duels ahead of this Sunday’s Daytona 500.
The two races set the grid for the inside and outside lanes of the 500, except for the front-row, which was locked out by Danica Patrick and Jeff Gordon during mid-week qualifying.
Patrick elected to drop to the rear of the field in the first duel to ensure that she did not wreck and jeopardise her pole slot for the 500.
Sprint Unlimited race winner Harvick eventually led home Greg Biffle, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch in a tight finish to the first race following a late restart.
The yellows had flown for an incident that saw Denny Hamlin got loose off of Turn 2 and collected Carl Edwards, spinning the latter’s Ford hard into the outside wall.
The second Duel ran green for its duration. Gordon looked the goods during the early running, but earned a drive-through penalty for pitlane speeding in the mid-race pitstops.
Kyle Busch emerged from the stops with a lead he would not relinquish – surviving a last lap charge from Kasey Kahne and Austin Dillon.
Clint Bowyer took fourth ahead of Matt Kenseth, who was shuffled back in the final miles after electing not to pull out and challenge team-mate Bush.
Australian Marcos ran in the top group until a lock-up heading to pit road ensured a long, four-tyre, stop. He eventually finished 11th and will start the 500 from 24th.
“I am just really upset with myself,” he said afterward.
“We didn’t know which tyre was going down and I panicked. I called for four tires because I didn’t want to take the risk of ruining this car.
“We had speed in it and I am much happier with this car than I was with the shootout car so I feel a lot better going into Sunday than I did a couple of days ago, that is for sure.”
Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss are the only two drivers on the 45 car entry list that failed to make the field.
Patrick will have to survive two more practice sessions before the 500 to ensure she starts from the point.
Watch the final laps of Duel 1
Watch the final laps of Duel 2
See below for the full Daytona 500 starting line-up
| DAYTONA 500 STARTING LINEUP | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pos.
|
No.
|
Driver |
Pos.
|
No.
|
Driver |
|
Row 1
|
|||||
|
1
|
10
|
Danica Patrick |
2
|
24
|
Jeff Gordon |
|
Row 2
|
|||||
|
3
|
29
|
Kevin Harvick |
4
|
18
|
Kyle Busch |
|
Row 3
|
|||||
|
5
|
16
|
Greg Biffle |
6
|
5
|
Kasey Kahne |
|
Row 4
|
|||||
|
7
|
42
|
Juan Pablo Montoya |
8
|
33
|
Austin Dillon |
|
Row 5
|
|||||
|
9
|
48
|
Jimmie Johnson |
10
|
15
|
Clint Bowyer |
|
Row 6
|
|||||
|
11
|
78
|
Kurt Busch |
12
|
20
|
Matt Kenseth |
|
Row 7
|
|||||
|
13
|
14
|
Tony Stewart |
14
|
55
|
Mark Martin |
|
Row 8
|
|||||
|
15
|
2
|
Brad Keselowski |
16
|
27
|
Paul Menard |
|
Row 9
|
|||||
|
17
|
13
|
Casey Mears |
18
|
31
|
Jeff Burton |
|
Row 10
|
|||||
|
19
|
88
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
20
|
1
|
Jamie McMurray |
|
Row 11
|
|||||
|
21
|
22
|
Joey Logano |
22
|
34
|
David Ragan |
|
Row 12
|
|||||
|
23
|
47
|
Bobby Labonte |
24
|
9
|
Marcos Ambrose |
|
Row 13
|
|||||
|
25
|
38
|
David Gilliland |
26
|
43
|
Aric Almirola |
|
Row 14
|
|||||
|
27
|
87
|
Joe Nemechek |
28
|
17
|
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
|
Row 15
|
|||||
|
29
|
26
|
Michael Waltrip |
30
|
7
|
Dave Blaney |
|
Row 16
|
|||||
|
31
|
95
|
Scott Speed |
32
|
35
|
Josh Wise |
|
Row 17
|
|||||
|
33
|
21
|
Trevor Bayne |
34
|
39
|
Ryan Newman |
|
Row 18
|
|||||
|
35
|
11
|
Denny Hamlin |
36
|
99
|
Carl Edwards |
|
Row 19
|
|||||
|
37
|
56
|
Martin Truex Jr. |
38
|
51
|
Regan Smith |
|
Row 20
|
|||||
|
39
|
93
|
Travis Kvapil |
40
|
83
|
David Reutimann |
|
Row 21
|
|||||
|
41
|
32
|
Terry Labonte |
42
|
36
|
JJ Yeley |
|
Row 22
|
|||||
|
43
|
98
|
Michael McDowell | |||
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