DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A sweep of the front row for the Daytona 500 is quite an accomplishment.
Thursday night, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took it a step further – setting up a one-two-three start for Hendrick Motorsports on Sunday.
Earnhardt won the first Duel at Daytona after starting in the back of the pack, securing a third-place starting spot for the Great American Race, just behind pole-sitter Jeff Gordon.
"It's pretty awesome what this group can do. Everybody at the Hendrick shop -- to see what they can produce is pretty awesome," No. 88 team crew chief Greg Ives said. "Starting one-two-three, that's pretty awesome."
Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were the only two drivers to enter Thursday night's races with their starting positions secured – first and second, respectively. But neither took it easy – Gordon finished just behind Earnhardt with a second-place finish in the first Duel, while Johnson found Victory Lane in Duel No. 2.
"Overall it was a really, really good test session for us to come away with a good result and a car in one piece so I can take the green flag with this race car from the pole on Sunday," Gordon said. "That's awesome."
Kasey Kahne, meanwhile, was just behind Earnhardt and Gordon in third place with five laps to go in the first Duel, ultimately finishing the race in seventh. He will start the Daytona 500 from the 13th position.
"It's been an awesome week for all our Hendrick Motorsports cars," Johnson said.
Both Johnson and Earnhardt marveled at how well their cars performed on the track at Daytona International Speedway and can't wait for Sunday.
"We've had a great car all week," Earnhardt said in Victory Lane. "I'm so glad to be able to get through the Duel in one piece, because I know how good this race car is. We've got a couple more practices to go through, we'll try to stay out of trouble during those and put this on the grid. We're going to have a fun day on Sunday."