2008 Gatorade Duels

Qualifying races for the 2008 Daytona 500 2008 Daytona 500#Qualifying May 2026 February 2025 The 2008 Gatorade Duels were a pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car races that were held on February 14, 2008 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Both, contested over 60 laps, were the qualifying races for the 2008 Daytona 500. The first race was won by Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the Hendrick Motorsports racing team. Reed Sorenson finished second, and Ryan Newman clinched third. Afterward, the second race was won by Denny Hamlin. Tony Stewart followed in the second position, ahead of third placed Jeff Gordon. The races set the field for the 50th running of "The Great American Race". These races are the only ones in the NASCAR Sprint Cup that qualifies drivers and their teams for a points-paying race. As qualifying only sets the front row for the Daytona 500, these races are formatted as follows: The pole sitter for the Daytona 500 (Jimmie Johnson) was on the point for the first race, with odd-numbered racers who have times in the first event, with the third-fastest driver sitting next to the pole sitter on the front row, then fifth- and seventh-fastest drivers in the second row, and so on. The second-fastest overall driver (Michael Waltrip) was the pole sitter for race two, with the fourth-fastest driver alongside in the front row, then the sixth- and eighth-fastest cars in row two, and so forth. Positions three through 39 were filled that way (not counting the pole drivers in each race) along with the top drivers in each race not locked in from the previous season's Top 35, automatically qualify for the race. After that, the three fastest cars that did not qualify in the races along with a past champions provisional (if needed) completes the 43-car field. Had all past champions made the race, the next fastest car would have been entered into the field. Top Ten Finishers Failed to qualify for the Daytona 500Race 1Race 284-A. J. Allmendinger49-Ken Schrader21-Bill Elliott10-Patrick Carpentier60-Boris Said37-Eric McClure09-Sterling Marlin27-Jacques Villeneuve08-Carl Long50-Stanton Barrett Race 1 and 2 Top Ten FinishersRace 1Race 2Pos.No.DriverCar MakeTeamPos.No.DriverCar MakeTeam188Dale Earnhardt Jr.ChevroletHendrick Motorsports111Denny HamlinToyotaJoe Gibbs Racing241Reed SorensonDodgeChip Ganassi Racing220Tony StewartToyotaJoe Gibbs Racing312Ryan NewmanDodgePenske Racing324Jeff GordonChevroletHendrick Motorsports45Casey MearsChevroletHendrick Motorsports49Kasey KahneDodgeGillett Evernham Motorsports599Carl EdwardsFordRoush Fenway Racing58Mark MartinChevroletDale Earnhardt, Inc.643Bobby LabonteDodgePetty Enterprises66David RaganFordRoush Fenway Racing742Juan Pablo MontoyaDodgeChip Ganassi Racing729Kevin HarvickChevroletRichard Childress Racing887Kenny WallaceChevroletFurniture Row Racing816Greg BiffleFordRoush Fenway Racing977Sam Hornish Jr.DodgePenske Racing944Dale JarrettToyotaMichael Waltrip Racing1015Paul MenardChevroletDale Earnhardt, Inc.1034John AndrettiChevroletFront Row Motorsports (NOTE: Race 2 extended to 64 laps due to green-white-checker finish.) Also Making Daytona 500: 83-Brian Vickers (Toyota) Drivers in boldface qualified for Daytona 500. Gatorade Duels Gatorade Duels Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway