Bluegreen Vacations Duel

The original Gatorade Duel logo

The event began as twin 100-mile (40-lap) races. From 1959 to 1971, the races were counted with points towards the Grand National championship. Purses awarded were counted separately from those awarded in the Daytona 500. For 1968, the races were scheduled for 125 miles (201 km) each, but were cancelled due to rain, and the starting lineup for the 1968 Daytona 500 fell back on the timed laps. In 1969, the races were extended again to 125 miles (50 laps). Lengthening the races added the need for a pit stop, increasing the complexity and excitement of the races.

For 1972, NASCAR's modern era commenced, and the races were dropped from the Grand National schedule as points-paying championship events. As part of Winston's changes to the series, races were required to be at least 250 miles (400 km) to be included as official points events. The races continued, however, as a non-points event. CBS began covering the event in the early 1980s, airing them tape-delayed and edited the day before the Daytona 500.

With the introduction of restrictor plates in 1988, the resulting reduction in speed and fuel consumption again allowed drivers to possibly complete the race without a pit stop. Nine times from 1988 to 2004, one of the races went without a caution, and without a pit stop by the winner. In 2003, rules had been put in place requiring smaller fuel tanks on restrictor plate tracks (from 22 US gal (18 imp gal; 83 l) down to 13 US gal (11 imp gal; 49 l)), which effectively forced a pit stop once again.

Starting in 2001, the races were shown live on television, as the Daytona 500 would rotate between FOX/FX and NBC/TNT from 2001 to 2006.

The final Gatorade Duel logo

In 2005, the races were lengthened to 150 miles (60-laps), given a new name, the Gatorade Duel, and from 2005 to 2012, used NASCAR's All-Exempt Tour format (similar to golf). The grids changed from even-odd qualifiers to a combination of even-odd based on the front row drivers by speed, then previous year's points standings (even-odd) of exempt and non-exempt teams by speed.[5] A rain delay in 2006 saw the second race finish under the lights.

Starting in 2007, the Gatorade Duel is shown live on Speed, under the new broadcast agreement. That same year, allegations of cheating came up. In 2013, Budweiser took over as sponsor of the Duels.

The Budweiser Duel race logo.

During Speedweeks 2013, Daytona International Speedway announced that the qualifying races would be held in prime-time and under stadium lighting on the Thursday before the Daytona 500 beginning in 2014, the races' debut on Fox Sports 1.

The Can-Am Duel logo.

From 2016 to 2018, the races were renamed the Can-Am Duel after new title sponsor Bombardier Recreational Products' range of Can-Am All-terrain vehicles.

The Duels became a points event once again in 2017 with the unveiling of a new race format. The two race winners will receive ten points for their victories.[6]

• Coors Light Pole qualifying is currently held one week prior to the Daytona 500. Since 2003, it has been held the Sunday before (except in 2010, when qualifying was held on Saturday to avoid conflict with Super Bowl XLIV). Prior to that, it was held the Saturday before (except for 1992) and the Wednesday before prior to the 1980s. Standard three-round knockout qualifying procedures are used for restrictor plate tracks. The fastest qualifier in the third round wins the pole position for the Daytona 500, and second fastest in the third round is considered the second starting position, also known as the "outside pole". Both front row starters are locked into those positions on the Daytona 500 starting grid.
• The two fastest qualifiers above (the Daytona 500 pole winner and the "outside pole" winner) are awarded the first starting position on the grid for each of the two Duel races, respectively.
• Drivers who qualify in odd-numbered positions in Q3 start in the first Can Am Duel, while those who qualify in even-numbered ones in that round start in the second Duel. This fills positions 1–6 in each duel.
• The 12 drivers eliminated after Q2 have their Q2 times determine their starting position. The fastest driver eliminated in Q2, based on Q2 times only, starts 7th in the first Duel, while the second-fastest driver in Q2 starts in that position in the second one and based on position of elimination from Q2, they start in the first (odd) or second (even) numbered positions.
• Drivers eliminated after Q1 will have Q1 times determine their starting position. The fastest driver eliminated in Q1 starts 13th in the first Duel, while the second-fastest driver eliminated in Q1 starts in there in the second one.

• In 2010, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne had a combined victory margin of .019 over second place drivers Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart.
• Dale Earnhardt set a record by winning one of the Twin 125 races for ten consecutive years, twelve times overall, as well as six Bud Shootouts, before winning the 1998 Daytona 500.
• Jeff Gordon won a Twin 125 in 1993, his rookie season. It marked his first win in a NASCAR Winston Cup event, however, it did not count as an official points-paying victory. He did not win an official points race until the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
• In 2007 Jeff Gordon won the race, but failed the post race inspection. He then "earned" the lowest Daytona 500 starting spot for a race winner, starting in 42nd place, but he was still credited with the victory.
• Since the race became a non-championship heat race in 1971, two drivers who did not win a Cup race, Coo Coo Marlin and Mike Skinner, have won the race.
• Four drivers have been killed in qualifying races. Talmadge "Tab" Prince was killed in 1970, Raymond "Friday" Hassler in 1972, Ricky Knotts in 1980 and Bruce Jacobi in 1983 (although he was in a coma for four years before dying in 1987).
• Denny Hamlin won the second Gatorade Duel on February 14, 2008, making him the first ever Toyota driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race.
• A driver each from Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing won the Duel races from 2007 to 2009.
• Randy LaJoie suffered a horrific crash in the 1984 UNO Twin 125 event when he spun out of turn 4, got airborne and slammed hard into the wall, then performed two backflips and a barrel roll, in an identical position as Ricky Rudd's Busch Clash accident days earlier. A rash of Turn 4 incidents (including Darrell Waltrip's crash in the same area that resulted in a concussion that would have suspended him from competition immediately under current NASCAR rules during the previous year's Daytona 500) resulted in the grass apron graded and paved over for the Firecracker 400 that July.
• Oddly, despite Richard Petty's wins at Daytona in championship competition, none of his official 200 wins included a qualifying race (1959–71).
• 2000 was Bill Elliott's only win as an owner/driver.

• 1961: First race was shortened due to crash.
• 1974: Both races were shortened due to energy crisis (10% shorter).
• 2006: Both races were extended due to a green–white–checker finish.
• 2007, 2011, and 2018: First race was extended due to a NASCAR overtime.
• 2008 and 2015: Second race was extended due to a green–white–checker finish.
• 2017: Was the first time that points were on the line.

• 2011 Daytona 500 Gatorade Duels Line Up
• Gatorade Duel Info And 2011 Pole Qualifying Results
• Gatorade Duel #1 Race info page
• Gatorade Duel #2 Race info page
• NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks