Elliott Sadler wins duel 1

Sadler led 36 laps of the 64 laps and held onto the lead in a thrilling green-white chequered finish to guarantee himself a second-row starting spot for Sunday's main event.

It was the first win for Ford's new Fusion, which has taken the place of the previous Taurus model this season.

"This is a great feeling, my guys have worked so hard during the off-season," Sadler said. "We had a tough season last year. To get the first Ford Fusion victory is really, really great."

Carl Edwards finished second after driving a steady race for Roush Racing, despite having one scary moment midway through the race where he nearly lost control of his car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr worked his way up from the back of the field to finish third after starting second to last, thanks to changing an engine after qualifying. He pitted for tyres twice during the race after all three DEI cars suffered excessive tyre wear.

Jimmie Johnson was another driver who put in a strong finish from the back of the field to finish fourth. Johnson had his qualifying time disallowed because he failed post-qualifying technical scrutineering and worked his way through the field quickly, being in contention for the lead halfway through.

The race finished under a green-white-chequered finish after Chad Chaffin's tyre blew up on lap 58, sending the number 92 Chevrolet Monte Carlo into the wall just after the start-finish line.

A caution period was immediately called and cars slowed down from racing pace but not enough. When the field got to the scene of Chaffin's accident, most braked suddenly having not noticed the amount of debris in the middle of the track.

Tony Stewart headed to the grass in avoidance, but Sterling Marlin was caught unawares and ran into the back of Dale Jarrett, sending Jarrett spinning and damaging the front of Marlin's car.

There were two other caution periods during the race, which was delayed by an hour due to light rain.

Paul Menard's hopes of making the Daytona 500 ended on lap 28, when his right front tyre exploded on his DEI car. He hit the wall and caused a caution for four laps.

Stewart was then the beneficiary of the other caution. The reigning Nextel Champion felt a tyre vibration on the first lap back up to racing speed following the Menard caution, but as he was dropping back through the field a caution was called for rain on the back straight.

NASCAR held the field under red flag conditions on pit-road for ten minutes while the track was dried, and when they restarted, Stewart was able to pull back into the pits to get a new set of tyres. He eventually finished eighth.

Kevin Lepage and Bill Elliott picked up the two starting positions available for the Daytona 500 by finishing 16th and 17th.

Pos  Driver              Make        Laps
 1.  Elliott Sadler      Ford         64
 2.  Carl Edwards        Ford         64
 3.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet    64
 4.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet    64
 5.  Matt Kenseth        Ford         64
 6.  Kurt Busch          Dodge        64
 7.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet    64
 8.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet    64
 9.  Denny Hamlin        Chevrolet    64
10.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet    64
11.  Jeff Green          Chevrolet    64
12.  Ken Schrader        Ford         64
13.  Dale Jarrett        Ford         64
14.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge        64
15.  Brent Sherman       Dodge        64
16.  Kevin Lepage        Ford         64
17.  Bill Elliott        Chevrolet    64
18.  Mike Skinner        Dodge        64
19.  Derrike Cope        Dodge        64
20.  Brian Vickers       Chevrolet    64
21.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet    64
22.  Larry Gunselman     Dodge        64
23.  Larry Foyt          Dodge        64
24.  Andy Belmont        Chevrolet    63
25.  Randy LaJoie        Chevrolet    62
26.  Sterling Marlin     Chevrolet    60
27.  Chad Chaffin        Chevrolet    58
28.  Paul Menard         Chevrolet    26
29.  Hermie Sadler       Ford         12