Gatorade Duel 1

Gatorade Duel 2 coverage


Jimmie Johnson gambled on pit strategy, then held off Kevin Harvick in a door-to-door battle to the finish line to win the first qualifying race for the Daytona 500. FULL STORY

Michael McDowell and Max Papis take the two transfer spots! They are in the Daytona 500.

CHECKERED FLAG - Lap 60: RIGHT AT THE LINE! JIMMIE JOHNSON WINS BY MERE INCHES! KEVIN HARVICK FININSHES SECOND.

Lap 59: Mark Martin falls off the pace - might be playing it safe since he has the pole.

Lap 59: White flag!

Lap 57: A big fight for the lead - Jimmie Johnson blocks Clint Bowyer and is able to stay ahead of Kyle Busch in the outside line to keep the top spot.

GREEN FLAG - Lap 56: Jimmie Johnson leads the field to the green. Max Papis is second and Kyle Busch is third.

Lap 54: Everybody but Jimmie Johnson and Max Papis pits for service.

Lap 54: Michael Waltrip on radio - "I messed up, sorry guys."

Caution 3 - Lap 53: Michael Waltrip takes a spin coming off Turn 4! He hits the wall. He will need help to race in the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Lap 52: Kyle Busch takes the lead with eight laps to go.

Lap 42: After leading earlier, Jeff Gordon is down to ninth.

Lap 40: Papis and Sorenson are in the transfer spots right now - bad news for past 500 winner Michael Waltrip.

Lap 39: Biffle gets a push from teammate David Ragan and takes over second place.

Lap 37: Jeff Gordon now pulls out into the lead. Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch battling for second.

Lap 36: Jeff Gordon just edges Biffle and takes the lead.

Lap 35: Greg Biffle restarts in the lead. Jeff Gordon second.

Lap 33: Eight cars, including the three that created the caution, come onto pit road.

Caution 2 - Lap 32: Terry Cook slides through the infield grass coming off Turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Max Papis hit Clint Bowyer, who slid into Cook and sent him for his wild ride.

Lap 31: Kyle Busch got past Mark Martin for the lead, but before he could get to the end of the lap Jeff Gordon power past him. Business is slowly picking up.

Lap 30: Denny Hamlin reporting that the tone in his motor has changed.

GREEN FLAG - Lap 29: Mark Martin leads the field to the green. Kyle Busch restarts second.

Lap 28: Because of that pit road error, Allmendinger drops to 17th from second.

Lap 27: Oh no! Second-place AJ Allmendinger overshoots his pit and has to be pulled back - big mistake after a very good run early for the Richard Petty Motorsports driver.

Lap 27: Pits are open this time by and everybody looks to be coming in for service. With this pit stop, teams should be able to make it the whole way without stopping again.

Lap 26: Jeff Burton goes to the garage.

Caution 1 - Lap 24: Jeff Burton had a right front tire explode and he bounces off the wall on the backstretch and brings out the first yellow flag of the race.

Lap 22: Michael Waltrip is in one of the two transfer spots for the Daytona 500.

Lap 21: AJ Allmendinger gets past Kyle Busch at the line and then moves right in front of him for second place

Lap 18: Top 15 cars are all single file up front.

Lap 16: Mostly single file action around the track right now. Mark Martin setting the pace up front.

Lap 6: There's a six car breakaway up front. Jimmie Johnson, who started in the rear, is up to 13th.

Lap 5: Jeff Fuller pulls off the track and into the garage. He will not race in the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

Lap 4: Joe Nemechek drops to the rear of the field. He's locked into the field, so this may be strategy so he doesn't damage his car.

Lap 3: A couple of cars have gone into the middle lane, making it three wide, but they are losing positions - Mark Martin grabs the lead.

Lap 1: Two-by-two around the circuit, Ryan Newman takes the lead from Martin on Lap 1.

GREEN FLAG! Mark Martin leads the field to the green.

48, 33 (both switched to backup cars), 27 (driver change) going to the back of the field for the start of this race.

2:08 p.m. ET - Tim Tebow gives the command to fire engines - here we go!

Drivers looking to race their way into the 500 via this duel are Max Papis, Reed Sorenson, Terry Cook, Kirk Shelmerdine, Michael Waltrip, Michael McDowell and Jeff Fuller. Joe Nemechek and Bill Elliott can also "race their way" into the Daytona 500, but they will race no matter what on Sunday thanks to their qualifying efforts. How to qualify for the Daytona 500

Notable drivers in the field include Daytona 500 polesitter Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and four-time champion Jeff Gordon.

Welcome to FOXSports.com's coverage of the Gatorade Duel qualifying races for the Daytona 500. This duel will set the odd starting positions for the Daytona 500.