Gatorade Duels set field for 51st Daytona 500

By Jerry Jordan

Motorsports Editor

DAYTONA BEACH, Fl. — Jeff Gordon won the first Gatorade Duel 150, on Thursday, possibly sending a message that he is on the comeback trail after not winning a single event in 2008 — not even a Duel race. That’s big considering he has won a Duel race three out of the last four years. This was his fifth win in a Duel event — his first came during his rookie-season in 1993.

“It feels fantastic,” a very excited Jeff Gordon told the media after the race. “We talked before the race. Doesn't matter if it's a qualifying race, the Daytona 500, you know, any confidence builder and momentum that we can get is a positive. You know, I'm just really excited about this race team this year.  Not only do we have a new paint scheme, I think Steve Letarte here did a fantastic job over the off-season just fine-tuning the cars, the team, personnel, engineering.

“I think we got some neat things in store for ourselves, not just here at Daytona, but moving forward, as well. It was a great race out there today. The car was driving well. It was a lot of fun dicing it up with Martin at the beginning, and then with Tony and Jimmie, McMurray, a bunch of them. I can't even remember all the things that went on there. It was a great race. I hope the fans enjoyed it, because it was fun from where I was sitting, not just because I went to Victory Lane.”

The second race looked like it was going to be won by Gordon’s newest Teammate Mark Martin but Kyle Busch saw differently. Busch pulled away on the last lap after taking the lead just three laps before relegating Martin to second place.

For Busch, the win could put some momentum back into a team that dominated in the early part of 2008 but threw out the parachute in the final 10 races of the season last year.

“It felt really good,” Busch said. “This whole team has really worked hard.  This whole off-season everybody has. From where we ended last year, it felt like it was pretty cool to start off the season this way.

“We ran good at Daytona here last year. Same thing in the Duel race, as well as in the 500. We gave one away in the Duel.  Gave one away in the 500. Maybe we can steal them back this year. We won in the July race. I felt like today the car was driving pretty decent. We've been working on trying to get the thing a little better over the bumps. I've been telling Steve and the guys it looks terrible on TV. It bounces all over the place.  But it's fast that way. For some reason it just likes to have that feel. Whatever it is we got, it's pretty special. You know, car's fast. So, whatever's fast works.”

That begs the questions, is Busch sending a message to the other 43 drivers in the garage that he back to true form? Maybe.

“Not here in Daytona,” Busch said. “You know, the statement's more so when we get to California, Vegas, Atlanta, that we'll be a force to be reckoned with. Daytona we knew we'd run strong. We felt confident about that. Our restrictor plate package is good. Toyota has done a wonderful job for us.”

With the Gatorade Duels out of the way the field is finally set in the wacky qualifying style of the Daytona 500. And for the most part, one could conclude that Hendrick Motor Sports will be the real force to be reckoned with. That’s because four of the Top 10 starters for the Daytona 500 are using Hendrick engines — three are Hendrick cars. And that number could have been higher had Dale Earnhardt Jr. not blown a tire on the backstretch and overshot his pit stall during the second Gatorade Duel 150. Junior still fought back to finish seventh — he starts the Daytona 500 in 14^th position.

Here’s the starting line-up for the 51^st Daytona 500:

Row 1

Martin Truex Jr.

Mark Martin

Row 2

Jeff Gordon

Kyle Busch

Row 3

Tony Stewart

Brian Vickers

Row 4

Jimmie Johnson

Juan Pablo Montoya

Row 5

Joey Logano

Denny Hamlin

Row 6

Aric Almirola

Bobby Labonte

Row 7

Kurt Busch

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Row 8

Kasey Kahne

Carl Edwards

Row 9

Scott Riggs

Jeremy Mayfield

Row 10

Paul Menard

AJ Allmendinger

Row 11

Jamie McMurray

Clint Bowyer

Row 12

Marcos Ambrose

David Stremme

Row 13

Casey Mears

Jeff Burton

Row 14

Michael Waltrip

David Reutimann

Row 15

Sam Hornish Jr.

Elliott Sadler

Row 16

Robby Gordon

Kevin Harvick

Row 17

David Ragan

Reed Sorenson

Row 18

Greg Biffle

Ryan Newman

Row 19

John Andretti

Scott Speed

Row 20

Matt Kenseth

Bill Elliott

Row 21

Travis Kvapil

Regan Smith

Row 22

Terry Labonte