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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: After Shaky Shootout, Hendrick Looks To 500
Team owner Rick Hendrick has six Daytona 500 victories...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 08, 2010   Charlotte, NC
The Hendrick NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team (Left to Right) Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

By any measure, the Budweiser Shootout wasn’t the start to the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season that Hendrick Motorsports was looking for, but the team will have plenty of chances for redemption this week.

Last Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, Hendrick drivers Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. swept the front row in qualifying for the Daytona 500, the biggest, richest and most prestigious event on the schedule.

Just hours after the Hendrick pole sweep, the team had four of the 24 cars competing in the Shootout. But Martin got caught in an early crash and finished 20th, with teammates Jimmie Johnson (13th), Earnhardt (11th) and Gordon (8th) not finishing where they would have liked, either.

But that was then.

This week, the game will be wholly different and the Hendrick squad hopes it will be much better as well, at least from a team standpoint.

On Thursday, Martin will start on the pole for the first of two Gatorade Duel at Daytona qualifying races, which will set the field for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Close by will be teammates Johnson (starting 4th) and Gordon (7th). Earnhardt will start on the pole for the second Duel.

Both of the Duels will be televised live on SPEED, starting at 1 p.m. with a special edition of NASCAR RaceDay Built by The Home Depot.

In the Shootout, none of the big teams used their Daytona 500 cars, instead opting for cars that were either older or less aerodynamic, or both. But in the Duels, drivers will be in their 500 mounts, and that should be a better indicator of performance potential for Sunday.

“I think guys are going to be a little smarter in the Duels. That’s your 500 car,” said Gordon, who bumped Greg Biffle late in the Shootout, triggering an eight-car crash. “ … Once we get to the 500, that's a totally different deal. Man, it's the Daytona 500 and everybody is going to be going for it and you're going to see a lot more risk being taken and for good reason. That's an important trophy that we all want. You'll see plenty of action and plenty of bump-drafting.”


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