Gordon ends drought with Duel win

The four-times NASCAR Sprint Cup champion was among the leading cars from the early going and emerged up front following the last caution, when he made the most of a fresh set of tyres to get past the Roush Fenway car of Jamie McMurray, who was among the few who chose to stay out when the caution waved eight laps from the end.

Hendrick driver Gordon stormed across the finish line ahead, comfortably leading a small group of cars that broke away in the last sprint of the race, taking his first victory of the year and also his first since he won at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October 2007.

"I'm so fired up about this year," Gordon said while celebrating with his one-year-old daughter in Victory Lane. "The whole team has got the same attitude onboard with them this year and I'm really excited about the Daytona 500 after that race.

"It was great between me, (Tony) Stewart and Jimmie (Johnson) and Jamie. All of these guys were putting on one heck of a race. We're determined to get it done this year."

Stewart finished second behind Gordon, as his newly-formed team continue to impress, making the most of their Hendrick machinery and knowledge. Defending champion Johnson was third behind Stewart, passing rookie Joey Logano in the last few yards when the young Gibbs driver broke out of line.

"I think we accomplished everything we needed to do," said Logano. "Our main goal was to go out there and finish the race, more like we did in the Shootout and then kind of keep going and earn some respect from these guys. I think we accomplished that, we worked on our car a little bit more and we're ready for the 500."

Sunday's polesitter Martin Truex Jr spun out of turn two on lap 49 after getting loose, causing the third caution of the day. He was able to avoid contact with the wall but his car suffered some damage to the front splitter and the rear bumper, which will require some overnight work ahead of Friday's practice.

Stewart and former Haas CNC driver Scott Riggs claimed the two Daytona 500 spots available through the duel. Riggs finished the race eighth with Tommy Baldwin's new-start up team and was surprised to have made the field with such a new organisation, after a tight battle for the spot against Joe Nemecheck and Kirk Shelmerdine.

"We're elated," said Riggs. "This is grassroots right there for us. You go to the shop and there's a lot of guys who are just volunteers with just passion about racing. They're addicted to the racing bug that we all are too and they put their heart and soul. To be able to put something together from a month and a half ago when we had nothing, speaks volumes for us."

With Stewart taking a spot through the duel, he leaves another opening for one of the fastest non-guaranteed drivers from qualifying, which is taken by last year's rookie of the year Regan Smith, now locked in for Sunday's race.

The biggest incident, which caused the last caution of the day, involved at least six cars when Kirk Shelmerdine slid up the track forcing others to lift the throttle and causing havoc behind. Matt Kenseth and Sam Hornish Jr made contact, while Logano got into the back of Casey Mears, sending the Childress driver into a spin.

Bill Elliot, who had been fastest in Sunday qualifying among the non-guaranteed drivers, hit trouble on lap 25 when the transmission on his car locked and he came to a standstill. Despite that he will on Sunday's race by virtue of his qualifying effort.

Also in trouble was former Truck Series champion Mike Skinner, who retired with fuel-pressure issues.

A mechanic from Jeremy Mayfield's team got hit during the first round of pitstops and although he was awake and alert after the impact, he was transported to a local hospital for treatment. He was working for Shelmerdine's team when the incident happened.

Pos  Driver            Car        Laps
 1.  Jeff Gordon       Chevrolet  60
 2.  Tony Stewart      Chevrolet  60
 3.  Jimmie Johnson    Chevrolet  60
 4.  Joey Logano       Toyota     60
 5.  Aric Almirola     Chevrolet  60
 6.  Kurt Busch        Dodge      60
 7.  Kasey Kahne       Dodge      60
 8.  Scott Riggs       Toyota     60
 9.  Paul Menard       Ford       60
10.  Jamie McMurray    Ford       60
11.  Joe Nemechek      Toyota     60
12.  Brad Keselowski   Chevrolet  60
13.  Marcos Ambrose    Toyota     60
14.  Casey Mears       Chevrolet  60
15.  Michael Waltrip   Toyota     60
16.  Sam Hornish Jr    Dodge      60
17.  Carl Long         Dodge      60
18.  Tony Raines       Dodge      60
19.  Terry Labonte     Toyota     60
20.  Kirk Shelmerdine  Toyota     60
21.  Martin Truex Jr   Chevrolet  60
22.  Robby Gordon      Toyota     60
23.  David Ragan       Ford       60
24.  Greg Biffle       Ford       58
25.  John Andretti     Chevrolet  53
26.  Matt Kenseth      Ford       52
27.  Bill Elliott      Ford       25
28.  Mike Skinner      Chevrolet  23