Race 2

Eight-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank Kimmel gambled by staying out during the final caution period in Thursday's second portion of the Gatorade Duel At Daytona. Here's what he had to say after the race: “We needed about three laps at the end instead of seven. It ran OK for about three laps, then it got real tight at the end. We gave it a shot, that’s all we could do. We lost the draft early, then we started catching it back. The car was just so tight that I had to breath it out. I finally figured out a way to get around the track without having to let off so much. It got a little bit better. We took a chance at the end.” Also missing the race will be Derrike Cope, winner of the 1990 Daytona 500: “It was way too tight all day long. I had to pedal all day. We never could get it freed up. I freed it up a ton that last time, they put tires on it. I got it coming, but it was still so tight that it was difficult, and we had so many cars between us at that point. We really had to be a lot freer to have a shot. But, hey, good effort. We were decent at the end, making some runs. We’ll just have to battle back.” After the race -- on my way to the car to get a heavy jacket for tonight's Truck qualifying -- I ran in to Morgan Shepherd. "We didn't have the funding to run Daytona this year," Shepherd said. "I hope to run a few races later this year."

Race 1

A few years ago, I remember sitting with Ward Burton on the morning of the Daytona 500, and he said, "you worry all winter long about just making this race." The next year, Burton won the 2002 Daytona 500. Thursday, Burton experienced the nightmare of missing the Daytona 500 for the second time in his career. This is what he had to say after the race: “Not what we wanted. We changed everything – aero package, camber package, all kinds of stuff – because we were horrible yesterday. It got a little better. I had to come in a couple times and try to get it to where it would stay under me. Right there at the end, it was the best it was. I was trying to get up through the middle. It got bottled up. Somebody checked up in front of me, and then I got hit in the rear. I’ve missed this race once before. My rookie year, we had a wreck at the start/finish line on the first lap.” Stanton Barrett was in position to transfer for the Daytona 500, but he also experienced problems. “We had a good run with the Bad Boy car. We just had a bad pit stop. We were way down in the pits, and I had to check up so much I lost all our track position. We needed it to go green flag. I really think we could have got back up there.” Stanton will be back on the screen this summer -- he did a lot of stunt and set-up work for Spider-Man three -- but also hopes to do more NASCAR racing, and a full season in either Cup or Busch in 2008. Not very long ago, you couldn't get close to Bill Elliott after a race -- he was mobbed by reporters, often in Gatorade Victory Lane. While his car looked promising at times at Daytona this week, Thursday he took the lonely walk back to the garage, all by himself. “I just never ran that well," Elliott said. "The car was really loose getting into the corners. I just fought that most of the day. Then the 41 car blew up in front of us and we had to come down pit road. That was it.”