Johnson serves notice to challengers at Duels

Jimmie Johnson broke from a slow Speedweeks start and delivered a sobering message to the competition Thursday:

He's better in his backup car than you are in your best stuff.

The four-time defending Sprint Cup champion and Kasey Kahne won the 150-mile Gatorade Duels by a combined 0.019 seconds, and Michael Waltrip promised Scott Speed flowers after grabbing the last spot in Sunday's Daytona 500.

Johnson finished 13th in the Budweiser Shootout and crashed his Daytona 500 car in practice Wednesday. Going to a backup car put him at the dual disadvantage of having to start from the back of the pack and stay on old tires to gain track position.

But Johnson showed that a few months off haven't diminished his driving skills. He moved to the front and held on expertly as his car slid around on worn tires.

On the final lap, Johnson and Shootout winner Kevin Harvick came out of the fourth turn door-to-door. Johnson inched ahead and won by 0.005 seconds, the second-closest Duels finish since electronic scoring was implemented.

"Our plan today was to go out and race as hard as we could, take chances, and see if we could win," Johnson said. "If we could win with this car, we would sleep well leading up to the 500.

"Clearly, we will be snoozing."

Kahne had to fight off Tony Stewart, winner of three of the last four summer races at Daytona, to get his first victory at NASCAR's most famed track.

After Stewart pushed to the front with bump-drafting help from sometimes rival Juan Pablo Montoya, Kahne - whose team has switched to Fords - powered back to the lead and beat Stewart's Chevy by 0.014 seconds.

Johnson and Stewart will start on the second row Sunday, behind Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who locked up the front row Saturday.

Since the top 35 drivers from last year's owners standings were guaranteed starting spots in the 500, Daytona's traditional qualifiers were far more important to the drivers who were fighting for the last few spots.

Michael McDowell and Max Papis earned the two transfer spots in the first Duel, and Mike Bliss and Speed got them in the second race. Because Speed didn't need to rely on his qualifying time, Waltrip got in on his slightly slower time.

The two-time 500 winner, who is retiring to focus on team ownership, endured a roller-coaster day in which he crashed in the closing laps of the first Duel. At that point, Waltrip knew he needed help from other drivers to get in the 500.

"I figured when I woke up this morning, I'd be crying before the day was over," Waltrip said. "I just didn't know if it would be because I was happy or I was sad. And then I sure didn't know it would be both within an hour of each other."

Waltrip hugged Speed, a quirky Californian who paints his toenails, and promised him Valentine's Day roses from Speedweeks sponsor Kroger when he got back to his motor coach.

"I think the big man there deserves to be in it," Speed said of Waltrip.

Papis, an open-wheel and sports-car driver who has been trying to break into NASCAR's top division for years, cried after edging Todd Bodine for his first start in the 500.

"I don't want to be called the 'road course racer' anymore," Papis said. "I want to be called 'Mad Max,' the Italian NASCAR racer."