Filed under: Kurt Busch, Dodge, Penske Racing, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kurt Busch had never won a restrictor plate race before this week and now it seems he can't lose.
Busch improved to a fitting 2-for-2 at Daytona International Speedway, his No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge claiming the win in the first of two Gatorade Duel qualifying races at the track Thursday afternoon. He won NASCAR's Budweiser Shootout exhibition race last weekend.
With a record 20 lead changes among nine drivers, Busch took the lead on the first lap of a green-white-checkered restart and led when he needed to thanks, in part, to the push from runner-up finisher Regan Smith in the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevy, whose effort earned him a third row starting spot in Sunday's Daytona 500.
Busch, however, will start the 500 from the pole position. He would have started third, behind fastest qualifier Dale Earnhardt Jr., but Earnhardt wrecked his car in practice Wednesday and will have to start a back-up car from the back of the field. NASCAR rules say that in that event, the third-place starter moves up to the pole.
Former Daytona 500 winners Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth finished third and fourth after establishing themselves as drafting partners in what was a race of two-car drafts and strategically picking your dancing partner. Kasey Kahne's Toyota and Juan Pablo Montoya's Chevrolet paired up for fifth and sixth place. Full results are here.
"You've gotta have a partner and Regan Smith was a great teammate today,'' Busch said. "It was almost like a roulette wheel was spinning and our numbers came up today.''
"We are going to ride this wave. We've made all the right decisions so far.''
In the second race, Jeff Burton captured his first victory ever at Daytona.
Despite a handful of technical changes to the cars -- including a smaller carburetor restrictor plate -- to lessen the opportunity of two-car packs, the two-car draft remained the norm and produced unexpected "friendships.'' Seldom did teammates run together. Instead, it was a friendship of convenience and proximity, like the Dodge-Chevy, Chevy-Ford and Toyota-Chevy combination of the top finishers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the pole position for Sunday's Daytona 500 last weekend, had to start from the rear of the field after crashing in Wednesday's practice and switching to a back-up car. He ran among the top-10 but ended up 13th and, according to NASCAR rules, will have to start from the rear of the 43-car 500 field anyway.
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