Rolex 24 At Daytona
The Rolex 24 At Daytona is a 24-hour endurance car race held as part of Speedweeks at the Daytona International Speedway. Sponsored by Rolex since the early 1990s, the race was originally known as the 24 Hours of Daytona and is run on a 3-1/2 mile course that combines the NASCAR oval and a road course within the track's infield.
The 49th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, held on January 29 and 30, 2011, was won by the No. 01 BMW Riley team from Chip Ganassi Racing.
Budweiser Shootout
The Budweiser Shootout at Daytona is an exhibition NASCAR racing event held at Daytona International Speedway the weekend before the Daytona 500. The race features Sprint Cup series drivers, but it is a non-points event yet offers a large monetary prize while serving as a kickoff event for the NASCAR portion of Speed Weeks.
The race invites a small field of NASCAR drivers, who can qualify for the event by being one of the 12 drivers who qualified for the previous year's Chase, the past Cup Series champion, past Bud Shootout champions, past Daytona points race winners or the reigning rookie of the year.
The Bud Shootout is comprised of two segments that result in 187.5 miles over the track's 2.5-mile layout. A 25-lap first segment is followed by a 10-minute pit stop and intermission for all racers before a closing 50-lap leg segment.
Gatorade Duels
The Gatorade Duels are a pair of 150-mile races that determine the starting lineup of racers for the Daytona 500. The two preliminary events held are held on the Thursday prior to the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. While the traditional timed laps are held at Daytona -- in similar fashion to other NASCAR events -- these sessions only determine the two front row starters for the main race at Daytona, with the finishing order from the Gatorade Duels determing the rest of the starting grid.
Preliminary races of varying lengths have been in use since 1959 at Daytona, with the events known as the Gatorade Duels since 2005. Since that year, the two fastest racers from the ordinary qualifying timed runs (held one week before the Daytona 500) do automatically earn the pole and outside pole positions for the Daytona 500, but are also awarded pole position for either of the Gatorade Duels. While the result of these top two drivers in the preliminary races doesn't affect their starting position for the Daytona 500, the starting positions for the rest of the field are determined by racers' finishes in the Gatorade Duels, with drivers from the first duel beginning on the inside slot -- and those from the second duel lining up on the outside position -- of each row.
A small number of additional positions for non-exempt racing team cars (based on the previous NASCAR season's points by owner-basd teams) may be awarded for each Daytona 500, and are based on the original timed speeds held before the duels.