The pole-sitter for the 2014 Daytona 500 Austin Dillon will lead the grid to the green flag on in race one. Greg Biffle will start second ahead of Dillon's Richard Childress Racing teammate Ryan Newman. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. starts fifth as he looks for his fourth duel race win and first since 2008. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will start fifth, rounding out the top five for Roush Fenway Racing.
Richard Petty Motorsports Fords of Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola start sixth and seventh with fellow Ford driver Joey Logano of Team Penske starting eighth. Logano will go to the back of the field after being involved in an accident in Wednesday practice that involved six cars. Matt Kenseth starts ninth as he looks for his second career duel victory with Kasey Kahne rounding out the top ten.
Kyle Busch starts eleventh ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Danica Patrick. Patrick will go to the rear of the field after an engine change. AJ Allmendinger starts fourteenth. Allmendinger did not have a ride for the race last year. Reed Sorenson rounds out the top fifteen.
David Gilliland starts sixteenth. The next three drivers, Parker Kligerman, Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers will all go to the rear of the field. Kligerman and Vickers are going to back up cars after being involved in that practice yesterday, Stewart because of an engine change. Cole Whitt is twentieth position on the grid.
Michael McDowell starts twenty-first in race one and finished ninth last year in the Daytona 500. Josh Wise joins him on an all-Ford row eleven with Joe Nemechek and Alex Bowman on an all-Toyota row twelve. Dave Blaney was schedule to take part in this race but had to withdraw from the event after being collected in the accident in Wednesday practice.
Race Two:
Martin Truex, Jr. starts on pole with another Roush Fenway Ford driver starting second, Carl Edwards. Brad Keselowski starts third ahead of Jeff Gordon. Gordon leads active drivers with five duel race victories, tied for third all-time with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. Only Dale Earnhardt (12) and Cale Yarborough (6) have more than Gordon. Paul Menard rounds out the top five but will drop to the back after being in that accident in practice yesterday.
Brian Scott starts sixth in a one-off for Richard Childress Racing. Defending Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson starts seventh. His only duel win came in 2010. Casey Mears starts next to his former Hendricks Motorsports teammate in eighth. The Toyotas of Michael Annett and Clint Bowyer round out the top ten.
Denny Hamlin starts eleventh and has one duel win to his name. Hamlin was the first driver to ever win a Cup Series race for Toyota when he won the second duel race in 2008. Kyle Larson starts twelfth with 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne starting thirteenth. Kurt Busch starts fourteenth with Justin Allgaier rounding out the top fifteen.
Landon Cassill starts sixteenth ahead of two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip. Eric McClure is eighteenth ahead of 2010 Daytona 500 Jamie McMurray. David Ragan starts twentieth.
The Labonte brothers make up row eleven with Terry leading Bobby. Ryan Truex and Morgan Shepherd round out the field.
Fun Facts:
A Chevrolet has won at least one of the duel races every year since 2001. The last time Chevrolet was shut out was 2000 when Ford swept the race with Bill Elliott and Ricky Rudd.
Ford has won four of twenty-six duel races since Elliott and Rudd swept in 2000. Elliott Sadler won two of those races driving for the now defunct-Robert Yates Racing (2004 and 2006). Kasey Kahne won in 2010 driving for Richard Petty Motorsports and Matt Kenseth won Jack Roush his first duel race in 2012.
Toyota has three duel wins, all by Joe Gibbs Racing, all in the second race. Hamlin won in 2008 while Kyle Busch won in 2009 and 2013.
There are thirteen past duel race winners competing this year (T. Labonte, Gordon, B. Labonte, Waltrip, Earnhardt, Jr., Stewart, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Johnson, Kahne, Kurt Busch, Kenseth and Harvick).
Nine time has a duel winner gone on to win the Daytona 500 (Fireball Roberts 1962; Cale Yarborough 1977 and 1984; Bill Elliott 1985; Bobby Allison 1988; Sterling Marlin 1995; Dale Earnhardt 1998; Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2004 and Matt Kenseth 2012).
Of those nine occasions, six were race one winners (Roberts, Yarborough in 1984, Elliott, Allison, Marlin and Earnhardt, Jr.).
Thirteen times has the Clash/Shootout/Unlimited winner gone on to win a duel race (Buddy Baker 1979, Darrell Waltrip 1981, Neil Bonnett 1983, Dale Earnhardt 1986, 1991, 1993, 1995; Ken Schrader 1989; Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 2003 and 2008; Tony Stewart 2007; Kurt Busch 2011 and Kevin Harvick 2013).
Of those thirteen occasions, seven were race two winners (Waltrip, Schrader, Earnhardt all four times and Earnhardt, Jr in 2003).
A driver has never won the Clash/Shootout/Unlimited, a duel race and Daytona 500 in the same year.
A rookie has won a duel race twice. Johnny Rutherford won the second qualifier in 1963. It was his first career start and because at that time duel races counted as points-paying races, it is Rutherford's only career NASCAR victory. Thirty years later, Jeff Gordon won the first duel race, however the duel races have been non-points events since 1972.
Along with Rutherford, two other drivers have the duel races be their only career victory. Earl Balmer won the second race in 1966. Though it wasn't a pay race in 1973, Coo Coo Marlin, father of two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin, won the second race that year. Marlin never won a points-paying NASCAR race and never had a second-place finish in his NASCAR career. His best official finish was third on three occasions (Texas World 1972, Nashville 1973 and 1975). Mike Skinner won the second duel race in 2001. While Skinner never won a points-paying Cup race, he did win two exhibition races in Japan. He won at Suzuka in 1997 and the final international exhibition at Twin Ring Motegi in 1998.
A rookie has won a duel race twice. Johnny Rutherford won the second qualifier in 1963. It was his first career start and because at that time duel races counted as points-paying races, it is Rutherford's only career NASCAR victory. Thirty years later, Jeff Gordon won the first duel race, however the duel races have been non-points events since 1972.
Along with Rutherford, two other drivers have the duel races be their only career victory. Earl Balmer won the second race in 1966. Though it wasn't a pay race in 1973, Coo Coo Marlin, father of two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin, won the second race that year. Marlin never won a points-paying NASCAR race and never had a second-place finish in his NASCAR career. His best official finish was third on three occasions (Texas World 1972, Nashville 1973 and 1975). Mike Skinner won the second duel race in 2001. While Skinner never won a points-paying Cup race, he did win two exhibition races in Japan. He won at Suzuka in 1997 and the final international exhibition at Twin Ring Motegi in 1998.
The only time the duel races were rained out were in 1968. The Daytona 500 starting grid was set by time that year. That was the first scheduled year for 125-mile qualifiers after being 100-mile races from their inception in 1959.
One team has never swept the duel races in one year.
