#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 1st Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt started from the rear of the pack due to an engine change and first took the lead at lap 18, leading 25 of the 60 laps to win his 2nd race at Daytona in 2008. Earnhardt also won the Bud Shootout last Saturdat night and has a chance to be the first driver ever to win the Bud Shootout, a qualifying race and the Daytona 500. #41-Reed Sorenson came from the back to finish 2nd, followed by #12-Ryan Newman, #5-Casey Mears, #99-Carl Edwards, #43-Bobby Labonte, #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, #87-Kenny Wallace, #77-Sam Hornish and #15-Paul Menard. Wallace clinched the first of the two spots available to drivers out of the top 35 in points from last year and #83-Brian Vickers finished 11th to grab the 2nd spot. #78-Joe Nemechek fell back on his speed to make the race and will start 41st. #2-Kurt Busch had electrical problems and finished 26th/out of the race and will use the past champions provisional to start the Daytona 500 43rd. #08-Carl Long finished 24th, but the car was found to be too low during post race inspection and he was credit with finishing 27th/last. There were 16 lead changes amoung 9 drivers and 2 cautions for 5 laps. For results, see my Gatorade Duel 150 races results page and for the Daytona 500 lineup, see my Daytona 500 Starting Lineup.(2-14-2008)
