CUP: Daytona Thursday Notebook (UPDATE 10)

Sprint Cup

CUP: Daytona Thursday Notebook (UPDATE 10)

Budweiser Duel No.2 is won by Kyle Busch...

Tom Jensen | Posted February 21, 2013 Daytona Beach, FL

Kyle Busch wins the Bud Duel No. 2 at Daytona International Speedway. (Image: SPEED)

Other Speedweeks 2013 Notebooks
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 20
TUESDAY, FEB. 19
MONDAY, FEB. 18
SUNDAY, FEB. 17
SATURDAY, FEB. 16
FRIDAY, FEB. 15
THURSDAY, FEB. 14

PHOTOS Budweiser Duel Race 2

[THURSDAY 7:28 pm ET]
GREENFIELD LEADS TRUCKS – Clay Greenfield posted the only lap over 189 miles per hour – 189.645 – to lead Thursday's Happy Hour practice for Friday night's NextEra Energy Resources 250 Camping World Truck Series race. Following Greenfield were Jeb Burton, Miguel Paludo, Ryan Truex and Brennan Newberry. Qualifying is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Friday on SPEED

[THURSDAY 5:45 pm ET]
VIDEO NASCAR Victory Lane: Kyle Busch - Budweiser Duel 2013

VIDEO: NASCAR Victory Lane: Kevin Harvick - Budweiser Duel

[THURSDAY 5:35 pm ET]
VIDEO: Kyle Busch Takes Duel 2 - Budweiser Duel 2013

[THURSDAY 5:25 pm ET]

DILLON TO DEBUT – Austin Dillon finished third in the second Budweiser Duel race Thursday and will drive in the Daytona 500 for the first time. A regular in the Nationwide Series, Dillon plans to run a handful of Sprint Cup races this year. "I'd glad my grandfather (team owner Richard Childress) can sleep now," Dillon said. "He was wearing me out at the start of that race. It was fun. We kept it out front with Kasey (Kahne) and some of those guys. It's pretty tough to pass, but you have to be patient, and that's what we were."

[THURSDAY 4:18 pm ET]

RACING FOR A REASON — Michael Waltrip’s 14th-place finish in the first Budweiser Duel allowed him to put the No. 26 Swan Racing Toyota into the Daytona 500 on Sunday. Waltrip’s car carries decals for the Newtown, Ct., relief fund for the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims. That makes this Daytona 500 more than just a race for Waltrip.

“It's just an honor to be able to race this car,” Waltrip said after his Duel race. “We went to Newtown a couple weeks ago and met with the town. Couldn't wait to give them something to smile about. It's been obviously a tough couple of months. Obviously all the fans are texting Newtown, 80888, rebuilding the town, whatever they need that money for, we're glad we can help out. Secondarily, we know we're going to give them something to cheer about in the 500. There's so many race fans in the Northeast, it's an honor to race it.”

[THURSDAY 4:14 pm ET]
RESULTS: Duel No. 1

[THURSDAY 4:01 pm ET]
PHOTOS Budweiser Duel No 1.

PHOTOS: Budweiser Duel Pre Race

[THURSDAY 3:51 pm ET]
VIDEO Harvick Wins Duel 1

[THURSDAY 3:41 pm ET]

PHOTOS: Duel No.1 Wreck Gallery

[THURSDAY 3:31 pm ET]
VIDEO: Duel No.1 Wreck

[THURSDAY 2:41 pm ET]

PHOTOS: TRUCKS Daytona Garage Pass Thursday

[THURSDAY 1:21 pm ET]

ANOTHER BURTON – Jeb Burton, son of former Cup driver Ward Burton, led Thursday's practice session for Friday's NextEra Energy Resources 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway. Burton ran 180.065 miles per hour in a Chevrolet. Also in the top five: Darrell Wallace Jr., James Buescher, Chris Fontaine and Clay Greenfield.

[THURSDAY 12:31 pm ET]

UNDER THE LIGHTS — Daytona International Speedway announced that next year’s Budweiser Duel 150-mile qualifying races will be run under the lights on primetime. FOX Sports Media Group will televise the races, which will air Feb. 14, 2014.

[THURSDAY 11:50 am ET]

NNS HAPPY HOUR — Kasey Kahne topped the final Happy Hour round of practice for the DRIVE4COPD 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race Thursday morning at Daytona International Speedway. Kahne had a best lap of 191.930 miles per hour in the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. That tied him with teammate Regan Smith’s No. 7. Kyle Larson was third, followed by Nelson Piquet Jr., Justin Allgaier and Danica Patrick.

[THURSDAY 11:47 am ET]

Check out SPEED.com's vast collection of photo galleries from Daytona Speedweeks...

[THURSDAY 10:31 am ET]

In the spring race at Martinsville, the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford of Aric Almirola (Left) will carry a throwback paint scheme to when Richard Petty (Right) first carried the STP colors in 1972. (Photo: Tom Jensen)

STP STEPS UP — STP will sponsor the spring NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway, which will be called the STP Gas Booster 500. In that race, Aric Almirola’s No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford will carry a throwback paint scheme to when Petty himself first carried the STP colors at Riverside Raceway in 1972. “This is like a homecoming,” Petty said. “…We’re real fortunate to have STP.” Petty won 15 races at Martinsville, a record number.

[THURSDAY 10:13 am ET]

NNS BACK ON TRACK — The first NASCAR Nationwide Series practice is in the books. Sam Hornish Jr.’s No. 12 Penkse Racing Ford Mustang was fastest at 191.836 miles per hour. His teammate, Brad Keselowski, came home second at 191.804 mph. Then came two more pair of teammates: The Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets of Brian Scott and Austin Dillon were third and fourth, respectively, followed by the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Elliott Sadler and Brian Vickers.

[THURSDAY 9:21 am ET]

DAYTONA 500 QUALIFYING EXPLAINED — It’s a busy day today at Daytona International Speedway as Speedweeks revs up. There are two rounds of NASCAR Nationwide Series this morning, from 9-9:50 a.m. ET and 10:15-11:50 a.m. SPEED will televise NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice live from noon to 12:50 p.m.

At 2 p.m., it’s the Budweiser Duel 150 qualifying races, which SPEED will also televise live.

Here’s how the Daytona 500 starting lineup will be set in today’s Duel:

Danica Patrick will lead the field to the green for the first Budweiser Duel. (Photo: Getty Images)

The two fastest qualifiers in last Sunday’s Daytona 500 time trials set starting positions one and two. That means Danica Patrick will be on the pole for the 500, flanked by Jeff Gordon. Patrick will start from the pole of Duel No. 1, with Gordon on the pole for Duel No. 2.

The highest 15 finishers in each Duel race – excluding the already locked-in front row – will earn a spot in the Daytona 500, and fill positions 3-32.

Based on their finishing position in the first Duel race, the top 15 will line up on the inside row (odd-number starting positions).

Based on their finishing position in the second Duel race, the top 15 will line up on the outside row (even-number starting positions).

Positions 33-36 will go to the four fastest cars from qualifying that have not already earned a spot.

Positions 37-42 will be provisional positions, and go to the highest six cars in 2012 owner points that have not already qualified via the Duel or Coors Light Pole qualifying.

The 43rd starting position will be assigned to any car owner who has the most recent eligible past NASCAR Sprint Cup champion who did not make the field by any other method, providing the driver had competed in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. If the 43rd position remains unused, it will be assigned to the next highest car in 2012 owner points not already locked into the field.

BUDWEISER DUEL NO. 1 STARTING LINEUP
ROW 1 — Danica Patrick, Trevor Bayne
ROW 2 — Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin
ROW 3 — Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
ROW 4 — Juan Pablo Montoya, Casey Mears
ROW 5 — Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr.
ROW 6 — Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski
ROW 7 — Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle
ROW 8 — David Gilliland, Michael Waltrip
ROW 9 — Kurt Busch, Scott Speed
ROW 10 — Regan Smith, Bobby Labonte
ROW 11 — David Reutimann, Joe Nemechek
ROW 12 — Brian Keselowski

BUDWEISER DUEL NO. 2 STARTING LINEUP
ROW 1 — Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman
ROW 2 — Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch
ROW 3 — Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
ROW 4 — Paul Menard, Austin Dillon
ROW 5 — Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton
ROW 6 — Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose
ROW 7 — Aric Almirola, Mark Martin
ROW 8 — David Ragan, Josh Wise
ROW 9 — Michael McDowell, Terry Labonte
ROW 10 — Dave Blaney, JJ Yeley
ROW 11 — Travis Kvapil, Mike Bliss

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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