I see what you're saying but he was consistently one of the fastest cars in practice and had a good run going last night until the wreck.

I'll be shocked if the winner next week isn't from HMS or RCR.

Yeah but the reality is if a driver has the ponies and starts 25th he has just as good of chance as the pole sitter in the 500~

I agree completely when it comes to next Sunday. All I'm saying is in the duels, you don't want your guy in the back with those that have to race their way in where he's more likely to get caught up in a wreck.
As it sits right now, Clint should start right behind the 88 in the first Duel. The two of them may be able to check out if it stays that way.......and it may also just be the case that I tend to overthink dumb shit that doesn't matter.

Jr. officially on the pole.

Yeah and he's going to start on the inside of the front row too....oh, wait a minute that's what you meant

Yeah, he said Jr, not Jeff Gordon.

LMAO if given the choice it is always best to be out front. That way you dont get caught up in someone elses **** up~

Hey! I've lost my rep power ever since one of the mods went on a rep rampage... LMAO

wait a minute, i now have 6 green squares -- lol

NASCAR orders changes, tries to dodge draft trouble

By Jim Utter - [email protected]
Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR wasted little time in making changes to limit the two-car drafts that dominated much of Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout.

Sprint Cup Series crews were issued technical bulletins Sunday afternoon outlining changes. New dimensions for the openings of Cup cars' grilles were specified and the addition of a pressure-relief valve required for the cooling systems.

Both are intended to limit the amount of time cars could hook up and run bumper-to-bumper before engine temperatures get dangerously high.

There could be additional changes before Thursday's pair of qualifying races or Sunday's Daytona 500, NASCAR officials said.

Officials said they would continue to monitor speeds, which some drivers pushed to 206 mph in Saturday night's event.


Read more: http://www.thatsracin.com/2011/02/13...#ixzz1DtZ8u2fU

Gatorade Duel 150 on SPEED Race 1 Starting Lineup
88 27 39 5 14 22 42 9 29 48 09 43 87 17 36 78 4 47 83 97 34 66 46 and 71

Gatorade Duel 150 on SPEED Race 2 Starting Lineup
24 21 33 31 16 6 99 38 00 2 15 1 18 56 20 60 13 77 7 32 37 11 64 and 92



As for Jeff Gordon's concern about who was running 9500 rpms. FOX had graphics last night with several NASCAR drivers over 9000 rpms

http://l.yimg.com/a/p/sp/tools/med/2...LUattCp4VCdA--

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not start first in the Daytona 500.

Eighteen minutes into the first practice for Thursday’s Gatorade Duels, Earnhardt got tapped from behind by Martin Truex Jr., sending him into the wall, destroying the No. 88 Chevrolet. With steam shooting from under his hood and his rear bumper dragging on the ground, Earnhardt wheeled his car to the garage where his crew was already unloading his backup car.

Earnhardt, who won the pole on Sunday, will now start at the rear of the field in both the Gatorade Duel and Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“We were coming around [Turns] 3 and 4 and some guys on the inside moved up toward the top lane and me and Jimmie [Johnson] checked up cause we didn’t know if they were coming into our lane and we got run over from behind,” explained Earnhardt. “Same old stuff that always happens here.”

Johnson was unscathed. Truex will also go to a backup car.

When asked what his emotions are after knowing he’ll have to start at the rear of the field, Earnhardt responded, “Get the next [car] ready.”

Rain delayed practice for several hours. When it finally got started, it was the first time on the track for a number of drivers, including Robby Gordon, Michael Waltrip and David Gilliland. Those three were locked in a three-car train, with Gordon leading the way. As they entered Turn 4, Gordon veered up the track and directly in the way of Johnson and Earnhardt, who were traveling some 20 mph faster.

Pinched against the wall with nowhere to go, Johnson had to check up, sparking a pile up behind him.

“It’s a new game,” Johnson said of Daytona, where the two-car draft has emerged as the fastest way to get around the track. “A spotter’s job is far more important and covers a lot more areas than it ever has. Spotting the front, spotting behind, letting you know when a two-car pack is coming.

“I think it was an innocent thing, but you can’t start on the bottom of the race track and then find your way all the way to the top in the corner,” he continued. “That was so avoidable. That didn’t need to happen.”

Said Earnhardt: “We’re all kind of getting the hang of it, but the guys that aren’t … need to be aware that those guys [in a two-car pack] are going to come flying up on them faster than they think. And you’ve just got to keep that in mind and hold your line.”

Earnhardt will roll off pit road first in Sunday’s Daytona 500, but will peal off and make his way to the rear of the field before the drop of the green flag. When he does, the winner of the first Gatorade Duel (or the second-place finisher if Junior wins) will slide into his spot.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;...iorwreck021611

UNREAL!!!!

MA FA!

SOMMA B!

freakin' no talent Truex, Jr!

hope truex gets caught in the BIG BIG one on sunday, that'll leave a mark! coming around the corner like a bat out of hell! Sheesh!

Starting at 2 p.m. ET Thursday, SPEED will televise the Gatorade Duel qualifying races from Daytona International Speedway.

What to watch for in Daytona Duels
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

What can you expect to see when the green flag drops for both of the 150-mile events?

1. What’s at stake?

When you combine the top 35 owner points rule with the unique qualifying system for the Daytona 500, it means 39 spots are already locked for the running of Sunday’s Great American Race (coverage begins at noon ET on FOX). The four remaining spots will be decided today in the Duels, with the top two non-top 35 points guys racing their way into the field via each race. The drivers battling for the two open spots in Duel 1 are Bill Elliott, Joe Nemechek, Dave Blaney, Kevin Conway, Michael McDowell and J.J. Yeley. In Duel No. 2, Travis Kvapil, Terry Labonte, Michael Waltrip, Todd Bodine, Casey Mears, Derrike Cope and Brian Keselowski will be fighting for the final two transfer spots.

Here’s where it gets a bit tricky, so stay with me. Bill Elliott, Joe Nemechek, Travis Kvapil and Terry Labonte are actually amongst the 39 already locked into the race because of their qualifying speeds or the fact that they can use the past champions provisional (Labonte). However, if any of them “race” their way into the 500, they allow the next fastest drivers from qualifying not already locked into the race to earn a spot (in order of speeds: Waltrip, Blaney, Bodine and Conway). So for example, if Elliott is the first “Go or go homer” in the first Duel race, Waltrip earns a spot in the 500 field regardless of how he performs.

There’s lots of different ways drivers can make the field -- but the surefire way to know they made it is to go all out and race their way in on Thursday.

There will be plenty of jubilation and heartbreak by the end of today’s races.

2. What’s at stake (Pt. 2)

These Duels aren’t just about locking drivers into the race, they are about setting the starting lineup for the Daytona 500 -- and perhaps more important, helping to establish the pit-selection process, which will be the key to victory according to several people in the Sprint Cup garage.

Here’s how this works. For all intents and purposes, the finishing order in the first Duel sets the odd starting positions behind polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. (who will drop to the rear of the field after a crash during practice Wednesday forced him to a back-up car). The finishing order in the second Duel will set the even positions behind outside polesitter Jeff Gordon. Once the lineup is set, pit stalls will be selected by teams based on their starting position -- so Junior’s team will get to pick whatever stall they want (presumably the first one at the end of pit road, which is considered the “prime” stall). Gordon’s team will pick second, followed by the winners of Duel race 1, Duel race 2, and so on.

With the elimination of the seventh man on pit stops, along with a new fueling system in place for 2011, pit stops will be absolutely crucial on Sunday. Getting a good pit-stall position could prove to be vital as teams look to gain milliseconds on the competition.

3. Expect the unexpected

In case you missed it, Wednesday was a wild day at Daytona. Polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. got into an accident, five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson had to have an engine change, etc. What kind of calamity will we see when 24 racers strap in and battle for position in each Duel? If the previous six days of Speedweeks is anything to go by, expect the unexpected.

4. Time to go to school

Since teams got down to Daytona last week, NASCAR has made several changes to slow the cars down -- including on the grille opening, the pressure relief valve, and the restrictor plate on the cars. Thursday will be the first time drivers truly get to feel what all the changes create out on the track in race conditions.

5. Down to the wire

If Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout was any indication -- and plenty of drivers believe it is -- you won’t want to miss the drop of the checkered flag because the finish for each Duel race could get wild. With the two-car tandems in full effect, it’s anybody’s race when it comes down to the end. Will the leader coming out of Turn 4 stay up front? Will drivers wreck each other for the win?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/stor...a-duels-021711

Results of the first duel:

1) #22-Busch, starts 3rd, moves up to the Daytona 500 pole
2) #78-Smith
3) #29-Harvick
4) #17-Kenseth
5) #4-Kahne
6) #42-Montoya
7) #43-Allmendinger
8) #5-Martin
9) #27-Menard
10) #39-Newman
11) #48-Johnson
12) #14-Stewart
13) #88-Earnhardt Jr. will still start at the rear Daytona 500
14) #83-Vickers
15) #09-Elliott, RACED IN
16) #47-Labonte
17) #46-Yeley, RACED IN
18) #97-Conway, DNQ
19) #87-Nemechek, SPD
20) #36-Blaney, MYB
21) #9-Ambrose
22) #71-Lally, -1
23) #66-McDowell, DNQ
24) #34-Gilliland, 40 laps

RACED IN = made race via transfer spot (2)
DNQ = did not qualify, will miss race
SPD = makes race on speed
MYB = can still make race on speed depending on Duel 2 results

Gatorade Duel 1: #22-Kurt Busch won the Gatorade Duel 1 qualifying race for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, his 2nd win at Daytona after winning the Budweiser Shootout. #78-Smith fininished 2nd. With #09-Elliott making the race via one of the two transfer spots, #15-Waltrip is guaranteed to make the Daytona 500 no matter where he finishes in the 2nd Duel as he had the 4th fastest speed in qualifying. If either #38-Kvapil or #15-Waltrip race into the race via the transfer spot, #36-Blaney could make the race by speed



this post and the one above copied and pasted from jayski