CUP: Johnson Edges Harvick In Wild Finish

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Edges Harvick In Wild Finish

In a back up car Jimmie Johnson won a very close Gatorade Duel number 1...

Mike Hembree | Posted February 11, 2010 Daytona Beach, FL

Jimmie Johnson crosses the finish line to win the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Gatorade Duel at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson won the first Gatorade Duel Daytona 500 qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

A backup car? Older tires? Some of the best drivers in the sport charging all around him?

RESULTS: Gatorade Duel One

None of those things could prevent four-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson from emerging victorious Thursday in the first of two Gatorade Duel Daytona 500 qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway.

Johnson, his car wiggling through the turns because he was riding on relatively worn tires, edged Kevin Harvick by less than a bumper – .005 of a second – to win. Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer also were chasing Johnson but wound up in the cluster of cars jammed together at the front.

The finish was set up six laps from the end when Michael Waltrip, one of the drivers trying to race his way into the 500 lineup, crashed in turn four, sparking the race’s final caution flag. With the track favoring new tires, all of the leaders except Johnson pitted for fresh rubber, leaving Johnson out front for the final green flag.

With only a few laps to go and drivers operating under new, more relaxed, “go for it” rules, those chasing Johnson, who might have been an easy target with older tires, seemed to be in the best positions. But Johnson made his car wide, held it to the low line despite bobbles and beat Harvick by a heartbeat.

“It wasn’t easy to drive the car that loose,” Johnson said. “But I just held it down and in front.”

There was another tight race back in the pack as Michael McDowell and Max Papis charged into the 14th and 15th positions and thus qualified for the 500. Both will be racing in the 500 for the first time.

Papis was especially thrilled. A veteran of international road racing who has tried to break into NASCAR, he was also racing on ice over the closing laps when his crew chief, Bootie Barker, decided not to pit for tires during the last caution.

RESULTS: Gatorade Duel One

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Hembree

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