DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- They entered Thursday's Gatorade Duel at Daytona International Speedway thinking they were all set to start side-by-side on the front row for Sunday's Daytona 500.

By the time the afternoon was over, Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin were glad to have survived it. Both narrowly avoided disaster in their separate Duel races -- the type that would have sent them scrambling into backup cars that would have forced them to the rear of the starting grid for Sunday's 500.

"I thought I was long gone," Martin said of the early contact his No. 5 Chevrolet took from Juan Montoya in the rear during the second Gatorade Duel. Immediately after the race, Montoya apologized for nearly taking Martin out -- but that might not have lessened the blow if Martin hadn't been able to recover.

Martin not only recovered but rallied to make a late run for the win before settling for second behind victor Kyle Busch (watch video).

"That was fun, maybe the most fun I've ever had here at Daytona," Martin said. "I've been around so long that maybe there are a couple of other times where I've had as much fun or more, but I just can't remember them."

Truex, on the other hand, had more fun at the beginning of his race than he did toward the end. He led 32 of the first 37 laps in the opening Duel, only to begin falling off the pace as the 60-lap event wound down because he lost the handling on the car.

As he drifted toward the rear of the field, he got tapped from behind by the No. 6 Ford of David Ragan exiting Turn 2 on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. That sent him sideways, and then quickly into a spin. He held on tight to the wheel, made sure he stayed well away from shooting up the middle of the track toward the outside wall -- and commenced praying that no one else would plow into him (watch video).

"You're just looking around and looking in your mirrors, hoping and praying," Truex said. "There are no two ways about it. You have to have luck on your side.

"I knew I could keep it off the wall. But I didn't know who was behind me, what their position was, whether there was another car spinning, or anything. You kind of spin out with your fingers crossed, hoping nobody else hits you."

“

That was fun, maybe the most fun I've ever had here at Daytona. I've been around so long that maybe there are a couple of other times where I've had as much fun or more, but I just can't remember them.

”

-- MARK MARTIN

Nobody did, and when all was said and done there was, remarkably, very little damage done to the No. 1 Chevrolet that Truex drives for the newly-formed Earnhardt Ganassi race team. He lamented the fact that he had to settle for a 21st-place finish in an event he thought he could win. But he knew finishing without having to go to the backup car that would have sent him to the rear of the starting field on Sunday was all that really mattered.

"I feel bad for my guys because I really wanted to win that thing and we had a good shot at it there," Truex said. "I just got myself in the wrong spot there with a car that wasn't right. We will work on it [Friday] and get ready for the 500."

Others weren't as fortunate as Truex and Martin. Among those who will have to go to backup cars for Sunday's race are defending champion Ryan Newman and perennial Chase contender Matt Kenseth.

With eight laps remaining in the first Duel, Kenseth got caught up in a wreck with Sam Hornish and John Andretti, tearing up his No. 17 Ford and relegating him to a 26th-place finish in the 28-car field. It also sent his team scrambling to get another car ready for Sunday's 500 (watch video).

Ironically, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer said that was going to be the car that Kenseth wrecked in last Saturday's Bud Shootout -- a car that already had been sent back to the team's shop in Concord, N.C., and now is in the process of being recalled.

"We actually fixed our Shootout car over the last two days in the body shop -- got all the damage off of it -- and it's actually getting painted [in North Carolina] as we speak," Blickensderfer said shortly after Thursday's calamity unfolded. "I just made the phone call, so it's getting the yellow and black put on it and the decals, and it will be back here [Friday]."

Newman, driving the No. 39 Chevy for the newly-formed Stewart-Haas race team, got hit from behind by David Reutimann and wrecked on Lap 47 of the second Duel (watch video). He finished 24th, and had some choice words for Reutimann after coming on his radio to tell crew chief Tony Gibson and new team owner Tony Stewart that they would need to get him a backup car ready for Sunday's race.

"Reutimann is a good name for him -- because he rooted a man right out of there and sent me up into the wall," Newman said.

Reutimann said he didn't blame Newman for being upset.

"I wasn't trying to wreck him," Reutimann said. "I screwed up. It was my mistake. He ought to be mad; I would be mad, too. To his team and him, and Tony Stewart and everybody that owns that deal, I apologize."