Auto

He’s considered one of the favorites to win the 50th running of the race.

“I feel like we’ve got a shot,” Earnhardt said. “Nobody’s boastful enough, I don’t think, personality-wise to come in here and claim that. I wouldn’t expect anybody to do that, but I thought we got a great shot. We’ve won some races down here, so we got to be in the group if there’s a group of them.”

Hamlin and teammate Tony Stewart gave Toyota a one-two finish in the second qualifying race. It was the first victory of any type in the Sprint Cup series for the manufacturer, now in its second year. Hamlin and Stewart drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, who switched from Chevrolet to Toyota after last season.

“I’m very proud,” Hamlin said of giving Toyota its first victory. “I definitely was behind (the switch) 100 percent, and it’s finally starting to pay off. To give them their first win, especially so early in the season, is a proud moment for me.”

Jarrett, a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 who plans to retire from racing after the first five races, had to race his way into the field. Jarrett was rooting for Kurt Busch during the first qualifying race to race his way into Sunday’s race, but an electrical issue forced Busch to rely on his champion’s provisional.

The provisional goes to the most recent former champion, which was Busch. That left Jarrett with no other option but to race his way in, which he did, with a little help from team owner/teammate Michael Waltrip, who helped push Jarrett to his necessary finish in the second qualifying race. Waltrip had already secured his starting position on the outside of the front row during qualifying last Sunday.

“Michael came back there and gave me the pushes that I needed to get some of those places (on the track),” Jarrett said. “This day, as much as people say is about Dale Jarrett, is about UPS and Michael Waltrip Racing. That’s who I wanted to get into the 500.

“Certainly I wanted to be a part of the 50th running of the Daytona 500. Now that we have the hard part over with, we have to go to work on this baby and tune it up a little bit to see what we can do on Sunday.”

Busch uses provisional

Kurt Busch was only able to complete nine laps before an apparent electrical issue knocked his Dodge from contention in the first Duel.

Busch finished last and will use a champion’s provisional to start the Daytona 500. His points from last season were transferred to his rookie teammate Sam Hornish Jr. , to ensure Hornish starting the first five races of the season.

“When you take away all your points, you put yourself in a position where maybe the racing gods aren’t looking the brightest upon you, but we’ll get through it,” Busch said. “We have a past champion provisional that’ll get us into the Daytona 500.”

Out of the 500

A.J. Allmendinger failed to make the 500, finishing 13th in the first qualifier. His teammate Brian Vickers made a last lap pass of Joe Nemechek to make the field.

“Pretty much (stinks) as bad as it can,” Allmendinger said. “It’s good that Brian got in, at least for the guys back in the shop, but my guys deserve better than that. Just never had the car right.”

Happy to be in

Kenny Wallace will make his first Daytona 500 start since 2005. He was beside himself with joy after making the race and credited his brother, Mike , who was his spotter during the first duel race.

Wallace was fired last year by the Furniture Row team but rehired during the winter. The team now uses engines supplied by Hendrick.

“This is all about me right now,” Wallace said. “For them to say, ‘Hey, here is a car with a Hendrick motor in it. We want you to go ahead and prove it.’ Holy crap, I proved it. I’m just shocked right now.

“I made the Daytona 500. It’s like Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s story, but on a real small level. He wanted to change teams to prove how good he was. My team gives me one chance, one opportunity to prove my ability. It makes it really extra special.”

Engine work

The four cars of Hendrick Motorsports, the super-power team of NASCAR, had to start at the back of the field of their respective qualifying races after they changed motors Wednesday.

Hendrick supplies engines to four other teams that had issues, apparently with engine “lifters” and the coating used on the part.

“The engines arrived in Charlotte late last night and our guys began working on them immediately,” said Jeff Andrews, HMS engine program director. “We were able to diagnose it as an issue between the cam shaft and the lifter. Our folks are working hard right now, and we’ll have the engines back in Daytona (Friday).”

Several Toyota teams had similar issues before last weekend’s qualifying.