Last Thursday, all the 53 drivers entered into the Daytona 500 — the Great American Race — competed in two separate qualifying races — the Gatorade Duels. Only four were able to race their way into the Daytona 500 (John Andretti, Dale Jarrett, Kenny Wallace, and Brian Vickers).
The first duel win went to Dale Earnhardt Jr. who dominate the race and was able to secure his win thanks to Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. 41 Target Dodge, who help push him and keep in first position. This left everyone, including myself, to speculate whether he’d win the 500 or not. I was leaning towards the yes, as were many others that I talked with.
The second duel was won by Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota. This gave Toyota their first Cup win and momentum for the 500. Despite Hamlin being the first Toyota winner, he wasn’t the one everyone was eying for the first coveted win. Read the rest of this entry »