Jeff Gordon wins duel 2

Gordon had already guaranteed himself a front-row starting spot for Sunday's race, thanks to his efforts on last Sunday's Pole Qualifying Day.

The races are used to decide the rest of the starting grid for the race, and despite Gordon having nothing to gain by winning, he demonstrated he will be a force to be reckoned with on Sunday, by dominating the latter stages of the race. It was his third win in the Daytona 500 qualifying races.

"The car was awesome," Gordon said. "We wanted to be up front the whole time this week and we've done that. Kyle Busch had a great car and really responded. I really wanted a green flag pitstop but we didn't get one, but it was a nice pitstop anyway."

Gordon's young teammate Kyle Busch finished second, having led the majority of the first half of the race, however, he overshot his pitbox on his lap 30 pit stop. NASCAR officials, as per the rules, insisted Busch back up into his box before completing his stop, which cost him several positions.

Jamie McMurray finished third in his second race for Roush Racing ahead of Bobby Labonte, who impressed in his Petty Enterprises number 43 car, briefly leading at the beginning of what turned into a 64 lap race.

The race ran an extra four laps, because, like the first duel earlier this afternoon, it also finished with a green-white-chequered finish following a late caution period.

That late caution was called because of a three-car accident on the front stretch. David Stremme couldn't avoid being part of the lap 58 pile up when JJ Yeley moved down on the Ganassi Racing driver. Travis Kvapil, who had already guaranteed his starting spot on Sunday thanks to his time on pole qualifying day, was on the other side of Stremme, who became sandwiched between the pair of them.

Yeley and Stremme spun while Kvapil took to the pit lane to avoid a bigger wreck.

Dave Blaney managed to avoid being hit by anybody when his left rear tyre exploded at the exit of turn four. Scott Riggs and David Stremme narrowly avoid the Bill Davis Racing driver.

The only other caution period of the race came on lap 28, when Joe Nemechek's engine expired.

Mike Wallace finished 13th to take the last starting position in this Sunday's race. Evernham Motorsports recruit Riggs missed out on a starting spot in 14th place.

Pos  Driver              Make        Laps
 1.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet    64
 2.  Kyle Busch          Chevrolet    64
 3.  Jamie McMurray      Ford         64
 4.  Bobby Labonte       Dodge        64
 5.  Mark Martin         Ford         64
 6.  Kyle Petty          Dodge        64
 7.  Casey Mears         Dodge        64
 8.  Greg Biffle         Ford         64
 9.  Ryan Newman         Dodge        64
10.  Robby Gordon        Chevrolet    64
11.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge        64
12.  Mike Wallace        Dodge        64
13.  Scott Riggs         Dodge        64
14.  Kenny Wallace       Chevrolet    64
15.  Jeremy Mayfield     Dodge        64
16.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet    64
17.  Scott Wimmer        Chevrolet    64
18.  Terry Labonte       Chevrolet    64
19.  Michael Waltrip     Dodge        64
20.  David Stremme       Dodge        64
21.  Kirk Shelmerdine    Chevrolet    64
22.  Chad Blount         Dodge        64
23.  Dave Blaney         Dodge        64
24.  J.J. Yeley          Chevrolet    63
25.  Morgan Shepherd     Dodge        62
26.  Travis Kvapil       Chevrolet    60
27.  Carl Long           Ford         56
28.  Stanton Barrett     Chevrolet    27
29.  Joe Nemechek        Chevrolet    26