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.

Under that caution, Papis stayed on the race track, but Bodine pitted for two right-side tires. Bodine said his car picked up a push at the end and his shot was gone as he slapped the wall, first in Turn 3 and then again in 4 after Papis had passed him.

Papis didn't pit after Waltrip brought out the final caution, with seven laps remaining.

Waltrip's Day-tona

He's going to start 43rd. But on Thursday afternoon at Daytona, that's good enough.

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"For me, this being the first 500 is just a dream coming true," the Italian Papis said in his broken English. "It came to great teamwork. Bootie [Barker, crew chief] left me up there in front. It was hairy, sliding around, everybody pushing me, kind of fell a little bit in the back. He told me that's the black car [Bodine] you need to pass. That's it, I kept it wide open as hard as I could and slid around and made it happen."

Bliss was the best go-or-go-home car in the second Duel for virtually the entire race; a significant accomplishment considering his small, Tommy Baldwin Racing team was using a backup car after Bliss inexplicably crashed their new car in practice Wednesday.

"That was a ride, I'm telling you [but] I like slipping and sliding -- it's fun -- better than being wide open all day," Bliss said. "It was loose, but it didn't matter. I had to stay in front of all those guys. Tommy and all the Wave Energy Drink guys worked really hard getting this car ready. It wasn't very close, but it handled just like the one I wrecked. I'm really fortunate that I had a really fast race car.

"I was really loose in, but boy you got a run into the corner. Outside [lane] was the place to be. But I was way too loose in, so as soon as I took the white [flag], I took the bottom. I went to the bottom. I didn't want to wreck the thing and I knew they were way back there so I went to the bottom and that was a lot different race track on the bottom."

Speed gave his best Yogi Berra impression when he described his race, but he was right about the impact of Waltrip being in the Daytona 500 for the 24th time in his career.

"Fortunate for us we were able to qualify on speed," Speed said. "The race for us was more like the race was for everyone else who didn't have to get into the race, but nonetheless, we were able to get in the race. An added bonus, another fellow Toyota driver, Mr. Waltrip, can run -- I think he's the guy that needs to be in that show."

Mears, driving a No. 90 Chevrolet for owner Raymond Key's new team, also spent a lot of the second Duel in a transfer spot, but fell short in the end.

"Well, it looked like it was about a lap and a half to go, we had the momentum -- enough to where the guys behind us weren't going to catch us and we were going to be in the show," Mears said. "But I couldn't see exactly who was in front of the No. 98 [Paul Menard], but they were up top and that guy got loose and he started coming down the hill and when I checked up, the No. 71 [Bobby Labonte] got underneath me and I really had to slow down and it just gave everybody behind us the momentum to get by.

"It's just disappointing because we were in great position to transfer and I think if we could have maybe got a second practice in, we might have gotten the thing handling a little bit better. It was pretty tight. But I'm really proud of everybody. This deal was put together about a month ago and Raymond Key dumped a whole bunch of his own money into this deal to come out and have some fun.

"I really wanted to make the show for him and obviously this is the first time I've never been in the Daytona 500 since I've started [Cup racing in 2003]. So it's pretty disappointing. We knew the situation we were in when we came here. We tried as hard as we could. The car was a little tight. We were in position and the cards didn't fall where we needed them to in the end."

Joe Nemechek (18th) and Bill Elliott (22nd) earned spots in the 500 based on their qualifying speeds, third and best, respectively. Bobby Labonte battled for an automatic transfer in the second Duel with Bliss, Speed, David Gilliland and Mears, but finished 17th in his No. 71 Chevrolet and will start 42nd in the 500, using a past champion's provisional.

Other drivers who failed to qualify out of the first race were Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Terry Cook, Reed Sorenson and Jeff Fuller.

Other drivers who failed to qualify out of the second race were Derrike Cope, Aric Almirola, Mike Wallace and Norm Benning.

Related:
• Close finishes highlight Duel qualifying races