NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
  • Peg It on GarageMonkey
CUP: Burton Leads RCR 1-2 In Second Duel At Daytona
Jeff Burton took the checkered flag in Thursday's second Gatorade Duel at Daytona...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 17, 2011   Daytona Beach, FL
Jeff Burton emerges victorious after Thursday's second Gatorade Duel at Daytona. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Heading into Daytona Speedweeks, the three-car Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup team was figured to be one of the favorites for the Daytona 500. Nothing that happened in Thursday’s second Gatorade Duel at Daytona International Speedway disabused anyone of that notion.

Jeff Burton led a RCR 1-2, crossing the start-finish line just .005 seconds ahead of teammate Clint Bowyer in the second Duel and reaffirming the team’s position as one of the favorites for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Burton and Bowyer used the two-car draft to perfection, showing plenty of muscle, pulling away from the field at the end of the race.

Finishing third was the surprising Michael Waltrip, who got a late-race push from Kyle Busch. The real shocker was fifth-place finisher Brian Keselowski, who drove a five-year-old Ray Evernham-built Dodge to earn a transfer position into the Daytona 500. Also racing their way into the big race were Travis Kvapil and Dave Blaney.

The RCR drivers raced in lockstep until the final straightaway, when Bowyer jumped out of line at the last minute, just as he did last October at Talladega Superspeedway to pass fellow RCR driver Kevin Harvick for the victory. But Burton held on, narrowly fending off Bowyer for the victory.

Among the surprises during the race was Trevor Bayne, who pushed four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon effectively for 59 of the 60 laps, before the two separated and crashed on the last lap, with Gordon finishing 12th and Bayne 19th. But along with the RCR trio and Duel One/Bud Shootout winner Kurt Busch, Gordon and Bayne could make some noise on Sunday, too.

While Burton was understandably pleased to win, he has his eyes on the big prize: Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Jeff Burton (31) edges Clint Bowyer (33) to win Gatorade Duel No. 2 at Daytona on Thursday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

“We have to keep in perspective that this is not the Daytona 500,” said Burton, who has not won a Sprint Cup points race since late 2008. “It's great to be in Victory Lane, real proud of that. Last year obviously was very frustrating toward the end of the year. Kept ourselves in position to win races but never made it happen. Put ourselves in position, I thought we were in great shape to win (the Budweiser Shootout) the other night, but to win tonight means a great deal. That's what drove us nuts last year. It's good to get that off our back and prove to ourselves we can do it. Looking forward to this year.”

So, now, it’s on to bigger and better things.

“I think obviously the Daytona 500 is the first hurdle,” said Burton. “There's the Daytona 500, a championship, two biggest things on my list I want to get done. Hopefully we're just one step closer to that.”

Burton said he expects a wild finish on Sunday.

“We're going to have about 400 miles of some stuff happening, and we're going to have 100 miles of more stuff happening than you can keep up,” he said. “We're going to have six or seven cautions in the last 100 miles, a short race till the end of the checkered. That's what's going to happen. ... Daytona 500's going to break. We could have some crazy thing where it doesn't happen like that. But I can almost guarantee you, that's what's going to happen.”
















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 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.
tom_jensen's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2013

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.