NASCAR Budweiser Duel lineups set for Thursday

So, qualifying is in the books for the Daytona 500, which means little in the grand scheme of things but means more in some respects because we get to talk about it for a week.

The tangible outcome of the Daytona 500 qualifying speeds though, is that they set the grid for Thursday’s Budweiser Duel… which then sets the grid for the actual Daytona 500.

The lineups below are determined by said qualifying speeds, with three exceptions. Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte will move to the back of their respective Duel race because of engine changes.

DAYTONA DUEL NO. 1

Pos	Car	Driver	Team
1	3	Austin Dillon #	DOW Chevrolet
2	16	Greg Biffle	3M Ford
3	31	Ryan Newman	Caterpillar Chevrolet
4	88	Dale Earnhardt. Jr.	National Guard Chevrolet
5	17	Ricky Stenhouse. Jr.	Nationwide Insurance Ford
6	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford
7	43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford
8	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford
9	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General Toyota
10	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
11	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s Toyota
12	4	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet
13	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy Chevrolet
14	47	AJ Allmendinger	Kroger/USO Chevrolet
15	36	Reed Sorenson	Golden Corral Chevrolet
16	38	David Gilliland	Love’s Travel Stops Ford
17	30	Parker Kligerman #	Swan Energy Toyota
18	14	Tony Stewart	Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
19	55	Brian Vickers	Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
20	26	Cole Whitt #	Speed Stick Gear Toyota
21	95	Michael McDowell	K-Love Ford
22	98	Josh Wise	Curb Records Ford
23	87	Joe Nemechek(i)	300 Rise of an Empire Toyota
24	23	Alex Bowman #	Dr.Pepper Toyota
25	77	Dave Blaney	Plinker Arms Ford

DAYTONA DUEL NO. 2

Pos	Car	Driver	Team
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Chevrolet
2	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal Ford
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Ford
4	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
5	27	Paul Menard	Peak/Menards Chevrolet
6	33	Brian Scott(i)	Whitetail Chevrolet
7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s Chevrolet
8	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Chevrolet
9	7	Michael Annett #	Pilot/Flying J Travel Centers Chevrolet
10	15	Clint Bowyer	5-hour Energy Toyota
11	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express
12	42	Kyle Larson #	Target Chevrolet
13	21	Trevor Bayne(i)	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
14	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation Chevrolet
15	51	Justin Allgaier #	Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
16	40	Landon Cassill(i)	Hillman Racing Chevrolet
17	66	Michael Waltrip	BlueDEF/AAA Toyota
18	35	Eric McClure(i)	Hefty Ultimate/Reynolds Wrap Ford
19	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald’s Chevrolet
20	34	David Ragan	CSX – Play It Safe Ford
21	32	Terry Labonte	C&J Energy Services Ford
22	52	Bobby Labonte	Phoenix Construction Chevrolet
23	83	Ryan Truex #	Borla Exhaust Toyota
24	93	Morgan Shepherd(i)	SupportMilitary.org Toyota

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Ryan Hunter-Reay and Scott Dixon drove about as hard as they possibly could during Sunday’s KOHLER Grand Prix, and they both drove nearly perfect races.

Hunter-Reay took advantage of Will Power’s engine issues on the start to immediately jump into second, and stalked pole sitter and leader Josef Newgarden from there, often staying within only a couple car lengths of his gearbox.

Dixon, meanwhile, had a tougher chore after qualifying a disappointing 12th. Further, he was starting in the same lane as Will Power, and when Power had engine issues when the green flag waved, Dixon was one of several drivers who was swamped in the aftermath.

Scott Dixon had to come from deep in the field on Sunday’s KOHLER Grand Prix. Photo: IndyCar

However, as is his style, he quietly worked his way forward, running sixth after the opening round of pit stops, and then working his way up to third after the second round of stops.

It all meant that, after Lap 30, Newgarden, Hunter-Reay, and Dixon were nose-to-tail at the front, with the latter two in position to challenge for the win.

Yet, neither was able to do so. Hunter-Reay never got close enough to try to pass Newgarden, while Dixon couldn’t do so on either Hunter-Reay or Newgarden. And, neither driver went longer in their final stint – Dixon was actually the first of that group to pit, doing so on Lap 43, with Hunter-Reay and Newgarden pitting together one lap later.

And Newgarden pulled away in the final stint, winning by over three seconds, leaving Hunter-Reay and Dixon to finish second and third.

It was a somewhat bitter pill to swallow, with Hunter-Reay noting that he felt like he had enough to challenge for a win.

“I felt like we had the pace for (Newgarden), especially in the first two stints,” he asserted. “I really felt like it was going to be a really good race between us. Whether it be first, second, third, fourth stint – I didn’t know when it was going to come.”

He added that, if he could do it over again, he would have been more aggressive and tried to pass Newgarden in the opening stint.

“In hindsight, I should have pressured him a bit more in the first stint,” Hunter-Reay lamented. “We were focused on a fuel number at the time. Unfortunately that Penske fuel number comes into play, can’t really go hard.”

Dixon, meanwhile, expressed more disappointment in the result, asserting that qualifying better would have put him in a possibly race-winning position.

“I think had we started a little further up, we could have had a good shot at trying to fight for the win today,” he expressed.

The disappointment for Dixon also stems from the knowledge that his No. 9 PNC Bank Honda had the pace to win, especially longer into a run.

“The car was pretty good on the long stint,” he asserted. “I think for us the saving grace was probably the black tire stint two. We closed a hefty gap there. We were able to save fuel early in the first stint, which enabled us to go a lap longer than everybody, had the overcut for the rest of the race.

“I think speed-wise we were right there. Had a bit of a crack at Hunter-Reay on his out lap on the last stint there, but cooked it too much going into (Turn 14), got a bit loose, lost momentum. That would have been really the only chance of passing him.”

Dixon remains in the championship lead, however, by 45 points, while Hunter-Reay moved up to second, tied with Andretti Autosport teammate Alexander Rossi.

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