2011 Gatorade Duel At Daytona: Race No. 1 Starting Lineup, Analysis
The first of the two Gatorade Duels at Daytona today has some of the sport's best restrictor-plate racers and accounts for every Cup champion since 2002.
Five-time champion Jimmie Johnson is joined by the likes of recent past champs Tony Stewart (one of the greatest Daytona drivers in history), Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth, along with former Daytona 500 winners Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman – among others.
Harvick has been nearly unbeatable at restrictor-plate races recently, but his advantage may have been negated by the two-car draft. The same goes for Stewart, who was a master of Daytona pack racing but is starting over along with everyone else in the new form of restrictor-plate racing.
Don't look for Earnhardt Jr. to be very aggressive, as he's already on his third car of Speedweeks and will do whatever he can to avoid another wreck.
The favorites may be Newman and Kurt Busch, who were among those with the best two-car strategy in Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout.
Our picks: Race winner – Ryan Newman ... Transfer spots: Bill Elliott, Dave Blaney
Here is the complete starting lineup for the first of two Gatorade Duels today:
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Paul Menard
- Ryan Newman
- Mark Martin
- Tony Stewart
- Kurt Busch
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Marcos Ambrose
- Kevin Harvick
- Jimmie Johnson
- Bill Elliott
- AJ Allmendinger
- Joe Nemechek
- Matt Kenseth
- Dave Blaney
- Regan Smith
- Kasey Kahne
- Bobby Labonte
- Brian Vickers
- Kevin Conway
- David Gilliland
- Michael McDowell
- JJ Yeley
- Andy Lally
– Names in BOLD are competing for the two transfer spots into the Daytona 500
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