DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jeff Gordon ended the longest winless drought of his career with a victory in the first of Thursday's twin Daytona 500 qualifying races.
The four-time Cup champion, coming off his first winless season since his 1993 rookie year, climbed from his car in Victory Lane and immediately reached for his young daughter. Ella was just an infant during his last victory celebration, back in October 2007.
"I've been fortunate enough to visit Victory Lane quite a few times, but not many times as a father," Gordon said. "There's nothing more special than that."
The non-points Gatorade Duel doesn't officially count for anything in Gordon's victory total, but it gives him a second-row starting spot in Sunday's Daytona 500.
It also gives him much-needed momentum after his disappointing 2008 season.
"Who says we can't win?" Gordon asked. "This team has been unbelievable. We all know what we went through last year by not winning. There's a lot of expectations on this team, but they never wavered. The guys just kept working hard, building great race cars.
"I'm really excited about the Daytona 500 after that race. It's been awhile since I've been to Victory Lane. I've got to take advantage of this."
Tony Stewart finished second and defending three-time series champion Jimmie Johnson was third. Joey Logano, the 18-year-old rookie who replaced Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing, finished fourth.
Stewart, off to an impressive start as driver/owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, earned the first transfer spot into the 500 based on his finish. He'd technically already earned one through time trials, so it opened up a spot in the 500 for Regan Smith, last year's top rookie who lost his ride at the end of the season.
The second spot went to Scott Riggs, driving for six-week-old startup organization Tommy Baldwin.
Riggs earned his spot in the 500 by racing his way from 11th to eighth in the final five laps.
"It feels absolutely awesome. It's like we just won the race," Riggs said.
Riggs lost his job at the end of last year when Stewart took over control of Riggs' former race team and revamped the driver lineup. With no other ride lined up, he turned to Baldwin, who lost his job running Bill Davis Racing when that operation folded at the end of last season.
"What really made the decision for me was when I talked to Tommy and just heard the passion in his voice," Riggs said. "Man, I am just elated."
Logano had a similar reaction after completing his first Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. He crashed out early in last weekend's exhibition Budweiser Shootout, costing him much-needed track time to learn the nuances before the biggest event of the year.
Although he slid through his pit box during his first stop — repeating a mistake he made during last week's ARCA race — Logano had a clean race from there and was running with the leaders in the closing laps.
"That's a big deal for us," he said. "To get out of here and finish the race is priority one. This is the most I've learned so far since I've been out here and I feel like I really used a lot of it at the end of the race."
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