Rapid Reaction: Daytona Duel 1
— -- DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- All those people who spent time since Sunday worried Dale Earnhardt Jr. wouldn't qualify for the Daytona 500 really had nothing to worry about Thursday during the Budweiser Duels.
But Earnhardt gave them something to celebrate, too -- another win.
Earnhardt, the defending Daytona 500 champion, won the first of the two 150-mile qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver led 21 laps overall, including the last 18. On a restart with four laps to go, he got out front and had Jeff Gordon behind him. That was good until three laps left, when Joey Logano passed Gordon. But who was going to help Logano? Not Gordon. Not Tony Stewart. Not Kevin Harvick.
Earnhardt, Gordon, Logano, Stewart and Clint Bowyer ended up first through fifth.
"We had to make some aggressive moves at the end," Earnhardt said. "That's kind of out of character to drive that way but it was what I needed to do to win the race.
"You have to throw some pretty hard blocks when it comes down to it at the end. ... We made a lot of good moves tonight because the car is so good."
• Who won? Dale. Earnhardt. Jr.
• Who raced their way into the Daytona 500? The top 15 (plus Daytona 500 pole-sitter Gordon) are now in the Daytona 500: Earnhardt, Logano, Stewart, Bowyer, Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Landon Cassill, Cole Whitt, Paul Menard, Michael McDowell, JJ Yeley, Michael Annett, Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon. Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski will get in either by speed or owner points. Trevor Bayne will be in by owner points.
• Who is headed home? Justin Marks and Ron Hornaday Jr. Those on the bubble waiting for the second race are AJ Allmendinger, Johnny Sauter and Casey Mears.
• Move of the race: Earnhardt on the restart with four laps to go never let anyone challenge him.
• Takeaway for Sunday: It is going to be about 40 degrees warmer Sunday, so one thing to take away is that the cars might be a little slower, but the track will be more slick. No matter the temperatures, expect Earnhardt to have a great car. And so will Kenseth, who was strong early. And that Gordon fella in his last Daytona 500.
