Junior's two-for-two; Vickers, Wallace race into Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the first Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race Thursday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
Earnhardt's win continued his Daytona "happy time" since NASCAR's most popular driver started his season with new car owner Rick Hendrick Saturday night by winning the Bud Shootout.
He was one happy dude. He was happy again Thursday, but the happiest guy on the race track had to be Kenny Wallace. And the second happiest had to be Brian Vickers.
Both drivers had to "race" their way into Sunday's 50th anniversary of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500.
Wallace finished eighth behind Earnhardt, Reed Sorenson, Ryan Newman, Casey Mears, Carl Edwards, Bobby Labonte and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Vickers finished a few spots further back in 11th behind Sam Hornish and Paul Menard.
It was an amazing run for Vickers who had to ovrcome an early spin plus an extra pit stop.
Earnhardt diced it up at the front with Sorenson, Newman and others enroute his win.
Once again, he was happy and hoped the fans enjoyed the race.
"That was fun" he said. "These new cars are a handful, but we'll sort that all out. It reminded me of the old days with the cars slipping and sliding around."
Brian Vickers brought out the caution on the second lap, spinning across the track out of turn four after being tapped from the rear by Boris Said.
Fortunately, Vickers' Toyota escaped damage, and he returned to the race at the back of the field.
Seven cars, including Daytona 500 pole winner Jimmie Johnson, started the first race from the rear after engine problems in practice forced a change. Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, J.J. Yeley and Scott Riggs also started from the rear.
Joe Nemechek roared to the front early on and showed his Furniture Row Chevy was quick. Nemechek, Newman and Sorensen swapped the lead while Kurt Busch dropped from contention on the ninth lap with mechanical problems.
By lap 15, Edwards and Truex sped to the front of the field. Two laps later, Earnhardt completed his charge from the back of the field to the front.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads Reed Sorenson to the finish line of the first Gatorade Duel 150 race. (Photo Credit: Robert Laberge / Getty Images for NASCAR)
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