Two qualifying races at Daytona set the grid for the 2011 Daytona 500, with a 0.005-second finish and a record 22 lead changes in the second race.
The 2011 Gatorade Duels decided the starting grid for the 2011 Daytona 500, run as two qualifiers at Daytona International Speedway. Kurt Busch took the first race by 0.065 seconds, while Burton won the second by 0.005 seconds, a race that also produced a record 22 lead changes among seven drivers.
The 2011 Gatorade Duels were two stock car qualifying races held on February 17, 2011 at Daytona International Speedway, and they set the starting grid for the 2011 Daytona 500. Kurt Busch won the 62-lap first race for Penske Racing, while Jeff Burton won the 60-lap second race by just 0.005 seconds. Both races were watched by a crowd of 80,000.
What were the Gatorade Duels and why do they matter?
The Duels are qualifiers that decide how the Daytona 500 field lines up. The top 35 drivers from the previous year's Daytona 500 qualifying were split between two races, with odd-numbered qualifiers in the first and even-numbered qualifiers in the second. The finishing positions in both races determined the starting spots for the big event.
Positions 40 to 42 went to the fastest drivers outside the top 35, and 43rd place went to an eligible past champion. If no past champion was available, the next-fastest driver filled that spot. Two drivers outside the top 35 could also win transfer spots in each Duel.
The idea of two races to set the lineup dates back to the first Daytona 500 in 1959. The early races were 100 miles, rising to 125 miles in 1969, and before 1971 they awarded points toward the Drivers' Championship.
Two qualifiers, one record 22 lead changes and a 0.005-second finish that set the tone for the Daytona 500.
How did the sponsorship and names change over time?
Corporate sponsors bought the naming rights to the qualifiers. Uno cards was the title sponsor from 1981 to 1984, and 7-Eleven followed in 1985. No sponsor funded the races from 1988 to 1990, when they were called the Daytona Twin Qualifiers.
Gatorade became the sponsor in 1991, and the races were lengthened to 150 miles. They took the Gatorade Duels name in 2005, were rebranded as the Budweiser Duels in 2013, and became the Can-Am Duels in 2016.
How did practice and qualifying set the grids?
Two practice sessions were held on February 16. The first lasted 90 minutes, and rain delayed it. Kyle Busch was fastest at 44.943 seconds, followed by Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya.
Earnhardt and Martin Truex Jr. collided in that session and hit the wall, and both had to switch to backup cars. The second session, lasting 55 minutes after rain delays, belonged to Kasey Kahne, who was quickest at 44.985 seconds. Joey Logano was only one-thousandth of a second behind him, and Jeff Gordon was third.
The grids followed the order of the Daytona 500 pole qualifying. Earnhardt started first in the first race, with Paul Menard on the front row and Ryan Newman third. Mark Martin and Tony Stewart were fourth and fifth. For the second race Gordon started on pole, with Trevor Bayne second and Clint Bowyer third, while Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle took fourth and fifth.
How did the first race play out?
On the pace laps Johnson and Earnhardt fell to the back of the field. Johnson had changed his engine, and Earnhardt had to move to a backup car after major changes made during practice.
Newman led at the start, but Menard passed him on the first lap with help from Martin. On the second lap Newman spun sideways in the second turn, avoiding the wall but bringing out the first caution. At the lap six restart Menard was still in front, and Martin took the lead with help from Stewart.
By lap nine Martin and Stewart had a lead of 1.7 seconds over the third-place car. Harvick took the lead on the 11th lap, and the front runners swapped positions repeatedly over the next 30 laps. Kenseth then took over on lap 43 with Harvick's help, and Harvick's total of 20 laps led was the highest in the race.
A second caution came on lap 56, when Michael McDowell's engine failed. Kenseth led the lap 60 restart, but on the final lap Kurt Busch and Regan Smith passed him, and Smith gave Busch a drafting push to the flag. Busch held the front to win, ahead of Smith, Harvick and Kenseth.
The first race was decided by 0.065 seconds, and it took 58 minutes and 12 seconds. There were two cautions and 20 lead changes among nine different drivers. Bill Elliott and Yeley also earned transfers into the Daytona 500 from that race.
What happened in the second race?
Gordon led at the start, but Bowyer took over on the first lap with Burton's assistance. On lap three, Casey Mears' engine failed and brought out the first caution. Kyle Busch led after the restart, but Carl Edwards passed him on lap 13 to take the front.
On the 15th lap Joey Logano hit the wall, bringing out the second caution. Edwards kept the lead at the restart, ahead of Kyle Busch, and the race entered its closing stages with the leaders bunched together.
Kyle Busch fell to ninth on the 21st lap with no help from the drivers around him. Two laps later Bowyer took the lead, but Gordon passed him two laps after that. Truex, with help from Hamlin, led for a single lap around the 27th lap before Edwards retook the front.
Burton led on the 30th lap, ahead of Biffle and Gordon. Keselowski spun on the 39th lap, bringing out the third caution, and Hamlin spun on the 46th lap for the fourth. Todd Bodine crashed five laps after the restart on lap 49, causing the fifth caution.
Burton won the second Duel with assistance from Bowyer. Michael Waltrip finished third, Kyle Busch fourth, and Brian Keselowski, driving a five-year-old car, completed the top five. The margin was 0.005 seconds, and the race lasted one hour, five minutes and 54 seconds.
The second race set a record with 22 lead changes among seven different drivers and five caution periods. Burton led 17 laps, more than any other driver.
Which drivers missed the Daytona 500 field?
Casey Mears, Todd Bodine, Derrike Cope, Kevin Conway and Michael McDowell failed to qualify. They either did not finish high enough in their Duels or did not set a fast enough qualifying lap.
Kurt Busch's win also gave him the lead at the start of the Daytona 500, after Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in an accident before the race. Busch credited his drafting partners, Regan Smith on Thursday and Jamie McMurray in the Shootout on Saturday, and said nobody reaches those positions without a great race car.
What did the winners say after the races?
Smith finished second in the first race and said he and Kurt Busch had worked well together all day, with good cars hooked up to each other. He hoped they would find each other again and do the same on Sunday in the Daytona 500.
Burton said the win was not the Daytona 500 and expected a quiet opening followed by a busy finish, with six or seven cautions in the last 100 laps.
Final results
| Duel | Position | Driver | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing; passed Kenseth on the final lap with Smith's drafting help |
| Race 1 | 2 | Regan Smith | Drafted with Busch to the flag |
| Race 1 | 3 | Kevin Harvick | Led 20 laps, the most in the race |
| Race 1 | 4 | Matt Kenseth | Led the lap 60 restart |
| Race 2 | 1 | Jeff Burton | Led 17 laps, the most in the race; won by 0.005 seconds |
| Race 2 | 2 | Clint Bowyer | Pushed Burton to the win |
| Race 2 | 3 | Michael Waltrip | Finished third |
| Race 2 | 4 | Kyle Busch | Ran second behind Edwards at the restart after the second caution |
| Race 2 | 5 | Brian Keselowski | Driving a five-year-old car |
