DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Elliott Sadler won the Daytona 500 Twin 125 qualifying races Thursday as tire wear became an obvious problem.
"It's hard to pass the leader," Earnhardt said. "The cars are pushing so bad. I was running on the top just in case the right front tire blew out so I wouldn't have too far to go to before I hit anything."
An estimated crowd of 120,000 fans watched both races under sunny skies at Daytona International Speedway. The top 15 positions in each race automatically advanced into the starting lineup for Sunday's 46th Daytona 500.
Front-row qualifying took place last weekend with Greg Biffle and Sadler capturing the top two spots. The rest of the top 10 on the starting grid will be Earnhardt, Sterling Marlin, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Mark Martin, defending champion Michael Waltrip and Kevin Harvick.
