2012 Gatorade Duels
2012 Gatorade Duels
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2012 Gatorade Duels

The 2012 Gatorade Duels were a pair of stock car races held on February 23, 2012, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 60-lap races, which drew 80,000 spectators, served as qualifiers for the 2012 Daytona 500, the premier event of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Stewart–Haas Racing's Tony Stewart won the first race, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. second, and Marcos Ambrose third. Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth won the second race, marking Kenseth's and his team's first victory in the Gatorade Duels. Regan Smith took second and Jimmie Johnson was third.

Carl Edwards led the first race from pole position on the first lap but shared the lead Stewart for the next three laps. Following that, Earnhardt took the lead on the fifth lap and held it until a caution period for a multi-car accident on lap nine. Denny Hamlin gained the lead on lap 15, but Stewart reclaimed it a lap later. With a pass on Stewart on the 17th lap, Hamlin reclaimed the lead and held it until his pit stop 26 laps later. Stewart took the lead on lap 43 and held it for the next 17 laps and two caution periods to win the first Gatorade Duel. There were three cautions and eight lead changes among five different drivers in the first race.

Greg Biffle was the early leader in the second race. Kenseth passed Biffle on the fourth lap for the lead. On the 13th lap, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch overtook him for the first two places. Biffle had passed Kyle Busch by lap 23 and retained the lead until his pit stop 14 laps later. Kenseth attempted a race-winning slingshot with three laps remaining in the race, overtaking Biffle when the final lap began, and he maintained it to win the second Gatorade Duel. There were five lead changes among five different drivers, and no cautions were given throughout the second race.

The Gatorade Duels were a duo of stock car racing qualifiers held on February 23, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway, a superspeedway that holds NASCAR races. Its standard track is a four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway. Daytona's turns are banked at 31 degrees and the front stretch (the location of the finish line) is banked at 18 degrees. The defending winners of the races were Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton.

In the early years, qualifying for the Daytona 500 took various forms: one timed lap, an average of two laps, or the better of two laps. The concept of having two separate races to determine the starting lineup of the Daytona 500 dates back to the first event in 1959. The first of the two 100 mi (160 km) qualification races featured Convertible class cars, while the second featured Grand National cars. The races were 100 mi (160 km) from 1960 and 1967, and 125 mi (201 km) in 1969. Prior to 1971, the races yielded points to the Drivers' Championship. Large well-established teams regard the races as practice for the Daytona 500, although successfully qualifying for the event would allow smaller less-established teams to compete in future NASCAR events during the season. If the team did not qualify, it risked closing until sponsorship could be secured.

The top 35 drivers were assigned to Gatorade Duel races based on their Daytona 500 qualifying positions. The first Duel featured drivers who qualified in odd-numbered positions, as well as the 2012 Daytona 500 pole winner. The second Duel featured competitors who qualified in even-numbered positions. The results of both Duels determined the drivers' starting places in the Daytona 500. The fastest drivers who did not qualify in the top 35 filled positions 40 to 42. An eligible previous champion took the 43rd spot. In the absence of a former champion, the 43rd position would be filled by the next-fastest driver. Two eligible drivers outside the top 35 qualified for the Daytona 500 by winning two transfer slots in each Duel.

After some of the cars' engines overheated while traveling in packs during the 2012 Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR increased the engines' pressure release values from 25 psi (1.7 bar) to 28 psi (1.9 bar) to help reduce overheating and mitigate the consequences of high-temperature driving.

Two 90-minute practice sessions were held on February 22. Matt Kenseth was fastest in the first practice session with a time of 44.809 seconds. Trevor Bayne was second-quickest with a lap-time 0.009 seconds slower. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third-fastest, ahead of Marcos Ambrose, Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Michael McDowell and Kevin Harvick. Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne. During the session, Brad Keselowski slowed to avoid Ryan Newman, forcing Bowyer to turn into Keselowski, whose car spun into the grass on the backstretch. Keselowski's car sustained minor damage, which could be repaired and he did not need to use a backup car. Aric Almirola led the second practice, in which 25 drivers competed, with a lap of 45.065 seconds—nearly one-tenth of a second faster than David Stremme. David Ragan was third, ahead of Robert Richardson Jr. and Greg Biffle. Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Bill Elliott, Michael Waltrip and Kahne completed the top ten ahead of the races.

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