Gatorade Duel Last Chance To Make Daytona 500 Field

From the drop of the green flag to the checkered flag, Gatorade Duel At Daytona qualifying races have produced some of the most exciting racing during Speedweeks as drivers scratch and claw for starting spots in the "The Great American Race."

During Speedweeks 2005, the qualifying races for the Daytona 500 will were extra 25 miles long, equivalent to 10 laps, delivered the even more exciting racing on the historic high banks of Daytona International Speedway.

Two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip pulled off a last-lap pass off of Turn 4 and nipped his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the start/finish line by nine one-thousandths of a second to win the first Gatorade Duel. Tony Stewart, with a drafting push from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bobby Labonte, passed Jeff Burton on Lap 49 to win the second Gatorade Duel. The Gatorade Duel at Daytona, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 16, and the largest attended weekday sporting event in America, is unique in the nature that you have exciting tight racing no matter where you look. The driver's primary goal is to win their 150-mile qualifying race but the middle of the pack is where the action is as drivers jockey for Daytona 500 starting positions.

The Daytona 500 uses a different qualifying procedure than any other race in the world. On Budweiser Pole Day on Sunday Feb. 12, only the fastest two cars solidify their starting spots for the Daytona 500. The fastest qualifier will earn the pole for both the Daytona 500 and the first 150-mile Gatorade Duel qualifying race. The second fastest qualifier earns the outside pole for the Daytona 500 and will start on the pole for the second 150-mile Gatorade Duel qualifying race.

Drivers qualifying in odd-number positions will compete in the first Gatorade Duel race while drivers that qualify in even-number positions do battle in the second Gatorade Duel race.

Drivers in the top 35 in owner's points in the previous season's championship standings are guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500. But the remaining teams have to earn a starting spot based on speed during the Daytona 500 qualifying or through one of the four transfer spots available in the Gatorade Duel At Daytona.

"There was so much pressure," said Kenny Wallace, who along with Mike Skinner, Kevin Lepage and Martin Truex Jr. earned transfer spots in last year's Gatorade Duel.

Tickets for Speedweeks 2006 and the Gatorade Duel at Daytona are available online at or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

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