Ups and downs of the Duel for the D500 ins and outs

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Both of Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying races for Sunday's Daytona 500 lived up to the old-school hype as the fortunes of the 18-car go-or-go-home group shifted in the final laps, in a pair of races that totaled the closest margin of victory in their 52-year history.

Jimmie Johnson won Duel 1 by inches over Kevin Harvick in a battle of former 500 winners while Michael McDowell and Max Papis drafted their way into qualified positions for the Great American Race by finishing 14th and 15th, respectively.

Duel 2 was more of the same, only amplified. Kasey Kahne beat Tony Stewart by inches to win, but back in the mid-teens, six men battled for two transfer spots. Mike Bliss and Scott Speed finally qualified for the $18.5 million 500 after finishing 13th and 14th, respectively.

The most significant aspect of Speed's late break into a transfer spot was it created a position in Sunday's big show for two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, based on his fifth-fastest qualifying speed.

"I'm so grateful and thankful that it worked out -- I guess I've come to expect [Daytona's ups and downs] a little bit," a relieved Waltrip said. "This place, it defines my career. And you know, six cars that we built in Cornelius [N.C.] at MWR are in the 500.

"Prism Racing with Phil Parsons, they're a customer of ours, as is Germain [who owns Papis' car]. Then our fourth car there with Brad [Daugherty] and Tad [Geschickter, JTG Daugherty Racing]. You know, our customers that buy parts and pieces and cars for us made the race, so we got happy customers, and that's good for any business."

In the first race, McDowell got some help from Carl Edwards to secure his position while Papis took advantage of two slips into the wall by Germain Racing teammate Todd Bodine, who was driving independent owner Kirk Shelmerdine's No. 27 Toyota, to steal his qualified spot on the 60th and last lap.

McDowell's success came in the first race for a Prism Motorsports team that plans to run a full schedule with two cars despite having no sponsorship. McDowell's teammate Dave Blaney challenged for a transfer spot early in the second race in his No. 66 Toyota but fell to 23rd at the finish.

"I actually feel like I've already won [the Daytona 500]," McDowell said. "Going into this race, we had high hopes [but] you never know. [When] that last caution came out, I knew we had a good shot at it [because] our car was really good on the short run."

Waltrip was on the verge of failing to make the Great American Race in his first attempt as a non-full-time driver when he crashed out of the first Duel with less than 10 laps to go, causing the caution McDowell referred to.

Waltrip, whose No. 51 Toyota was running 15th and in the first qualified spot on the 52nd lap of his Duel, appeared to slow in Turn 4 and was tapped from behind by the No. 78 Chevrolet of Regan Smith. That caused Waltrip to spin and hit the inside wall. (Continued)