Gatorade Duels Tickets

The Gatorade Duels is a preliminary event to the Daytona 500 and is held in February at Daytona International Speedway.

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Consisting of two 150-mile races, the event is a qualifier for the Daytona 500. The finishing order in the Thursday race determines the starting lineup for the following Sunday's race. Originally a 100-mile duo of 40-lap races, from 1959 until 1971 they were counted toward the Grand National Championship with points. In 1969 the races were extended to 125 miles. When Winston made changes to the series, in 1972 the races were dropped from the Grand National schedule as points-paying. Races were then required to be at least 250 miles to count as a qualifier. The races continued as non-profit events, before being lengthened to 150-mile 60-lap races in 2005.

The 2007 races were marred by controversy, as allegations of cheating were rampant among the drivers. Illegal modifications caused point deductions, fines and suspensions for Evernham Motorsports' teams. Three days later after the pre-qualifying mishaps, Michael Waltrip Racing was hit with indefinite suspension, impounding of the car, point deductions and fines due to "an unknown substance" was found in the manifold.