{"id":9183,"date":"2012-02-23T20:23:34","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T01:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9183"},"modified":"2012-02-23T20:23:34","modified_gmt":"2012-02-24T01:23:34","slug":"stewart-kenseth-capture-gatorade-duel-150-mile-qualifying-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/stewart-kenseth-capture-gatorade-duel-150-mile-qualifying-races\/","title":{"rendered":"Stewart, Kenseth Capture Gatorade Duel 150-Mile Qualifying Races"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NASCAR<\/a><\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth claimed their positions on the second row for Sunday\u2019s 54th annual Daytona 500 with wins in their respective Gatorade Duel at Daytona qualifying races at historic Daytona International Speedway.<\/p>\n

Stewart\u2019s win in the first Gatorade Duel was his third in the Daytona 500 qualifying races and 17th overall on the 2.5-mile tri-oval moving him ahead of racing legend Bobby Allison to take sole possession of second place on DIS\u2019s all-time victory list. The late Dale Earnhardt Sr. holds the top spot with 34 wins.
\n
\n\u201cWe have a great race car,\u201d said Stewart, who is still seeking his first Daytona 500 win. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a great race car since we got here. (This win is) good momentum, but it’s no guarantee. It’s nice to come here and have two really good, strong and solid races back to back; it\u2019s an awesome start for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s just something magical about Daytona. When it’s the most important race of your season, all the drivers and all the teams and all the crews put more pressure on themselves for that one race than they do anywhere else the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenseth\u2019s victory added to an already prosperous Speedweeks 2012 for Roush Fenway Racing. It marked the first-ever Duel victory for the organization and only the third for Ford since the race went to the current 150-lap format. With Kenseth rolling off fourth on Sunday, and Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle securing the front row during Daytona 500 Qualifying, RFR will have three of the top-four cars leading the pack to kick off the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big win for us,\u201d remarked Kenseth. \u201cWe\u2019ve never been able to win one of these races \u2013 Shootouts or 150s. We\u2019ve been trying for a long time, so it feels good to have everything go right, have everything line up and be able to win that race. You feel a lot more confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top three of the first Gatorade Duel and Regan Smith and Jimmie Johnson followed behind Kenseth in the second Gatorade Duel.<\/p>\n

Of the 49 cars battling in today\u2019s Duels, 14 were not guaranteed a spot in NASCAR\u2019s biggest, richest and most prestigious race. Robby Gordon and Michael McDowell acquired the two transfer positions available in the first Gatorade Duel and Dave Blaney and Joe Nemechek earned the two transfer spots in the second Gatorade Duel.<\/p>\n

Defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne, Tony Raines and David Stremme made the race based on their qualifying speed and Terry Labonte will qualify with a past champion\u2019s provisional.<\/p>\n

The drivers that did not qualify for Sunday\u2019s race are two-time Daytona 500 champions Michael Waltrip and Bill Elliott, Kenny and Mike Wallace, Robert Richardson Jr. and J.J. Yeley.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the 54th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 26 as well as other Speedweeks 2012 events can be purchased online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.<\/p>\n

If you are unable to attend in person, be sure to tune in to the Daytona 500 on FOX on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth claimed their positions on the second row for Sunday\u2019s 54th annual Daytona 500 with wins in their respective Gatorade Duel at Daytona qualifying races at historic Daytona International Speedway. Stewart\u2019s win in the first Gatorade Duel was his third in the Daytona 500 qualifying races and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45,21,14972],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar","category-sprint-cup","category-touring-series-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}