YES!! DODGE WINS Again!! Kurt Busch!!!!

Kurt Busch wins first Daytona qualifierEmail Print Comments95 ESPN.com news services

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kurt Busch showed he's mastered the two-car tango around Daytona International Speedway, using a push from Regan Smith to win his second race of Speedweeks.

Busch, winner of the exhibition Budweiser Shootout, held off Smith's last-ditch attempt to steal Thursday's win in the first Daytona 500 qualifying race.

[+] EnlargeAP Photo/John Raoux
NASCAR driver Kurt Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the first of two Gatorade Duel auto races at Daytona.
"This is just an incredible Speedweeks," Busch said in Victory Lane. "I don't want it to end."

Busch still has the main event looming, Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500. The starting lineup is set by the results of Thursday's twin 150-mile qualifying races, and Busch's win earned him a spot in the second row.

However, since pole winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecked his primary car during practice Wednesday, Busch will move up to the front row when the race starts. Earnhardt will start from the rear of the field with a backup car.

Jeff Burton won the second qualifying race by beating teammate Clint Bowyer to the finish line.

NASCAR sensation Brad Keselowski also pushed his unheralded older brother, Brian, through the field Thursday and into a transfer spot that earned him his first spot in the Daytona 500.

Brian Keselowski, who is two years older than his brother, cried in his car. He'll make his Sprint Cup debut in NASCAR's biggest race of the season.

The first qualifying race was a repeat of multiple two-car hookups teaming to push one another around the speedway. Drivers determined during two test sessions that hooking up in pairs is the fastest way around the track, which was repaved during the offseason.

Almost all track time has been used by drivers trying to figure out who they can work with, how long they can stay hooked up, and how quickly they can swap positions. NASCAR has tried with a series of technical adjustments this week to break up the tandems -- mostly through changes to the cooling systems that cause cars to overheat if they stay hooked up too long.

Several drivers, Busch included, have figured out how to swap positions quickly.

"Guys, it don't compare to anything," said two-time Daytona 500 winner Bill Elliott, who raced his way into the field in the first qualifying race. "I've never experienced anything like what you have to do to make it work. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. It's like a bunch of kids playing leapfrog, but they were doing it in pairs."

Busch said the entire week has been an exercise in finding drivers to work with. That's exactly how his qualifying race shaped up from the very start, as packs of two cars immediately lined up and pulled away from the drivers still searching for a partner.

Earnhardt, who had to drop to the back of the field at the start of the race because he's driving a backup car, never could find a steady partner and rode around in the middle of the pack. He finished the first race in 13th.

"I was trying to find a partner until they called me to pit road," he said. "I was just losing a lot of time to the leaders. We need to find a little more speed on the car. Guys are able to run a little bit longer than we are without swapping. We need to find a little better deal on the cooling.

"We've got some homework to do."

Elliott and J.J. Yeley claimed the two transfer spots available in the first qualifying race to advance into the Daytona 500. Michael Waltrip joined Brian Keselowski with spots from the second race.

Permalink Reply by 7 Gordon 7 on February 18, 2011 at 1:24am

WHats up with Robby? 4 dodges at Daytona. They finish 1st, 5th and 6th. Then Robby 17th. I noticed not many people would team up with him early. DAMN!!!!