Tony Stewart escaped a seven-car wreck to earn a fourth-place start in the Daytona 500. Credit: Autostock

Stewart survives wild second race for victory

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Tony Stewart avoided a seven-car pile-up that eliminated several top contenders and then held off a hungry Jeff Burton to win the second Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying race Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.

GATORADE DUEL •   Race 1 results •   Race 2 results

Stewart narrowly slipped through a crash triggered when Kevin Harvick nudged leader Jimmie Johnson coming off Turn 2 on Lap 36. Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Joe Nemechek and Dave Blaney were all eliminated, with Johnson and Nemechek pointing the finger of blame squarely at Harvick.

Herman's headWallace is thrilled after making it in the Daytona 500 Winning timeWaltrip edges Dale Jr. to win Thursday's first race Early wreckThe hopes of some to make the Daytona 500 are dashed early Tony takes itTony Stewart hangs on to win the second race of the Gatorade Duel Drivers' reactionsDrivers express their disgust after a multicar pile up Big wreckMany cars are damaged after a wreck in the second race Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

That didn't matter much to Stewart, who took the lead from Burton not long after the green flag waved from the Johnson/Harvick wreck. Stewart went unchallenged the last 12 laps as Burton couldn't get help from behind.

"It was pretty close," Stewart said of avoiding the wreck. "Mark was the one we were having to dodge there. He was getting turned around. He couldn't help what was going on with his car, but we had to make a pretty big left-hand turn there to dodge him, and then once we got through there we had to get it gathered back up."

With Johnson, Harvick and Martin -- running 1-2-3 at the time -- all out, that helped clear the way for Stewart.

"I'm sure it would have been more difficult (to win)," Stewart said. "We only had two cars to pass, but Mark and the 29 and the 48 in front of us were all strong cars. Those were really strong racecars that got taken out there. I'm sure it would have been a lot harder to get up there."

Kevin Lepage finished a surprising third and earned a spot in Sunday's Daytona 500, as did fourth-place Martin Truex Jr. Scott Riggs finished fifth.

Matt Kenseth was sixth, with Robby Gordon seventh and failing to make the 500. Scott Wimmer ended up eighth, followed by Sterling Marlin and Boris Said.

Stewart had help from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bobby Labonte to get to the front, but Labonte dropped off and finished 12th. Burton couldn't make a move, as Lepage said later he would stick with Stewart.

Daytona 500 Lineup Pos. Driver Make 1. Dale Jarrett Ford 2. Jimmie Johnson Chevy 3. Michael Waltrip Chevy 4. Tony Stewart Chevy 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy Complete lineup, click here

"I was right where I wanted to be," Burton said. "The problem was that Tony had a teammate behind me. Tony could do things with his car that he wouldn't have been able to do if there wasn't another car behind him that wanted to pass him.

"Bobby stuck with him and he got such a run on me in the front straightaway. I blocked him pretty hard but I couldn't get him slowed down. When he did pull beside me, the line went with him.

"But you know, I thought I drove a good race. I put myself in a position to win and I'm proud of that."