Hendrick Packs 1-2 Punch in Second Gatorade Duel

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2006) – With a push from teammate Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon won the second of two Gatorade Duel qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday. Driving a lightning-fast No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, Gordon described his extended 64-lap run as “great,” lauding the efforts of his pit crew and 20-year-old teammate. “My teammate Kyle made some great moves,” Gordon said. “My guys made a great pit stop, got us out first. From that point on, it was just about protecting the lead and feeling the car out, what it was like out front. The car drove great. “There at the end, it got pretty interesting. Luckily we had Kyle, our teammate, again back behind us. That probably saved us from some of those guys ganging up on us.” Busch finished runner-up to Gordon in the second Duel. "It was a pretty good run for the Kellogg's Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS," Busch said. "My team did a good job with this Chevrolet. I was very impressed with the way the guys have built this one. All those guys that built our restrictor plate race cars are doing a whale of a job out there." In the first Gatorade Duel, Johnson’s No. 48 Lowe’s Chevy was excellent, coming from the rear of the field to finish fourth. Vickers also made a strong run in the No. 25 GMAC Monte Carlo SS, but posted only a 20th-place result after encountering debris on the frontstretch late in the race. Gordon will start Sunday’s Daytona 500 on the outside pole position. He will be followed by the Hendrick Motorsports contingent of Busch in fourth, Jimmie Johnson in ninth and Brian Vickers in 35th. The respective finishing orders of the Duels are used each year to determine to the starting grid for the Daytona 500 (Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC).