Thursday’s Gatorade Duel 150 NEXTEL Cup races determined the final competitors and set the starting order for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Kenny Wallace had to beat six other competitors to the finish line to secure one of the last two remaining spots in the 500. In a dramatic fashion, Wallace made a daring last-lap pass of Kerry Earnhardt to finish tenth and earn an eleventh row starting position for Sunday’s Great American Race. It marked the first time an Aaron’s Dream Machine has competed in the Daytona 500.

Michael Waltrip also made a power move on the last lap of the first 150-mile race to win the Gatorade Duel by a fender over Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and secured a second-row starting position for the 500.

At the start of Saturday’s Busch race, Waltrip dropped back in the field as a defensive move to be able to react in case of trouble early in the competition. While “hanging back”, Michael hooked up with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Martin Truex, Jr., all driving with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. power under their hoods. The three began to move forward through the field mid-way through the race and broke into the top-ten at lap 99.

During the final twenty-laps, Michael stayed in the top-ten, but complained the car was “pushing”, making it difficult to go through the turns. However, he started passing cars using the outside line and battled hard to pickup spots. Getting some drafting help from behind, Michael worked his way up to seventh when he took the white flag, but a caution came out on the final lap and the field was frozen, keeping Waltrip in seventh at the finish line.

Sunday brought all of the excitement and fanfare typical of the “Super Bowl of Motorsports” under the warm, sunny Florida skies. 200,000 fans from around the world came to see the biggest names in NASCAR compete for the coveted Harley J. Earl trophy and to watch all of the drama superspeedway racing brings. Admiring all of the pre-race activities, Kenny Wallace was gracious to fans and Aaron’s guests but was anxious to get the No. 00 Aaron’s Golden Dream Machine out on the track and race.

Starting in the 21st position, Wallace, like Waltrip the day before, dropped back to avoid any early crashes and get a feel for how his car was handling. An early caution allowed the crew to make some adjustments to loosen the Dream Machine up to get it turning better through the 31-degree banking. Eight-laps after the restart, Kenny dodged six cars spinning down the track after Ricky Rudd lost a tire and picked up several positions. However, his car ran through some of the debris, so he brought the car to the pits for new tires.