NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Kurt Busch Takes Duel 1 At Daytona
Two-car drafts once more dominate competition at Daytona…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted February 17, 2011   Daytona Beach, FL
Kurt Busch celebrates his win in the first Gatorade Duel at Daytona. (Photo: Getty Images)
For a guy who hasn’t exactly been a master of restrictor-plate tracks, Kurt Busch is really enjoying himself during Speedweeks this year at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch won the Budweiser Shootout last Saturday with a strong last-lap performance and then won the two-car drafting war Thursday in the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Following in the top five were Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne.

Busch, who had never won a race at Daytona or Talladega prior to last week, now has won two straight and, with a win in Sunday’s race, could become the first driver to win the Shootout, a qualifying race and the feature in the same year.

“It’s been a great ride through these Speedweeks, and being in the right place at the right time,” Busch said. “To have this double deuce [his car number 22] in victory lane for a second time, we’re going to ride this wave while it’s in our sails.”

Busch said he should be the Daytona 500 favorite.

“We won the Shootout,” Busch said. “We won our Duel today. I don’t like the favorite role. I like to be more of an underdog.”















Busch and Smith were perfect drafting partners for most of the first qualifying race Thursday. That ended in the final moments as Smith dropped out of the pairing and tried to make the winning pass.

But Busch played perfect defense as they approached the checkered flag and won the 150-miler.

“It’s amazing to be able to do this,” Busch said. “You’re learning every lap. There’s always something to absorb. It’s amazing what a partnership can do on the track. Regan Smith – thanks to him.”

Kahne and Juan Pablo Montoya drafted into first and second-place together with four laps to go just as the race’s second caution flew because of Michael McDowell’s smoking car.
Kurt Busch (22) and Regan Smith (78) move to the outside of Kevin Harvick (29) and Matt Kenseth (17) in the first Gatorade Duel. (Photo: Getty Images)

That caution resulted in a green-white-checkered finish (adding two laps to “regulation”), and the Busch-Smith draft swept past the drafting cars of Kahne and Montoya in turn four on the white-flag lap.

From start to finish, the first Duel rolled along with the same two-car drafting patterns that have been a focus of Speedweeks. The difference Thursday was that the “switch,” when drivers who are drafting together change positions so that the second car can get “clean” air and not overheat, was taking place more often because of NASCAR rules changes.

The race was interrupted on its third lap when one of the early two-car drafts – with teammates Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman – produced the first caution. As they exited turn two virtually glued together, Newman, who was in front of Stewart, shot to the inside and spun off the racing surface. Stewart later said he simply miscalculated as the duo moved from the turn banking onto the straightaway.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.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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