Dale Earnhardt Jr. poses with the Coors Light Pole award Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. Photo credit: Getty Images

Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for getting his first restrictor plate pole at the speed of 186.089 mph for the Daytona 500. Right up along side him on outside pole is Jeff Gordon.

So the front row is set. The rest of the drivers must race in the Gatorade Duel on Thursday, February 17th to see where they will start for the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 20th.

So what exactly is the GATORADE DUEL?

The Gatorade Duel consist of two 150-mile qualifying races which set positions 3-39 for the Daytona 500. A combined total of 66 cars will be allowed into the two Gatorade Duel races.Cars must compete in one of the Gatorade Duel races, in order to race in the Daytona 500.

The eligible highest ranked 35 in 2010 car owner points are assigned to Gatorade Duel races based on their standing in the 2010 final car owner points. Odd-numbered (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) owner points will compete in the first Gatorade Duel; even numbered (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) owners will compete in the second. The only exception is that the fastest qualifier (Earnhardt Jr.) will compete in the first Gatorade Duel and the second fastest (Jeff Gordon) will compete in the second, regardless of 2010 car owner point standings.

The remaining teams are assigned to a Gatorade Duel based on qualifying times beginning with the fastest team – the Phoenix Racing’s #09 of Bill Elliott. The final lineups will be 24 cars in each Duel. Starting positions for the Gatorade Duels are based on qualifying times that were run on Sunday.

Drivers locked in are the Hendrick teammates, pole winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88) and outside pole winner Jeff Gordon (#24); 33 drivers in the top 35 of 2010 owners points.

Non top 35 owners points drivers LOCKED IN will include the first fastest of drivers not in the top 35 -Phoenix Racing’s Bill Elliott (#09); Second fastest Travis Kvapil (#38); 3rd fastest Joe Nemechek (#87); Past series champion, Terry Labonte (#32).

If any of the above four drivers NOT in the top-35 races into a transfer spot, 2 spots in each Duel the following four drivers could get via their qualifying speed: Michael Waltrip (#15) Fourth fastest of dirvers not in top 35; Dave Blaney (#36) Fifth fastest; Todd Bodine (#60) Sixth fastest; Kevin Conway (#97) 7th fastest.

Here’s the line up for Race 1:

1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 186.089 pole sitter
2 27 Paul Menard Chevy 185.422
3 39 Ryan Newman Chevy 185.002
4 5 Mark Martin Chevy 184.991
5 14 Tony Stewart Chevy 184.911
6 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 184.896
7 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevy 184.763
8 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 184.748
9 29 Kevin Harvick Chevy 184.740
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevy 184.687
11 09 Bill Elliott Chevy 184.532
12 43 A J Allmendinger Ford 184.290
13 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 184.222
14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 184.102
15 36 Dave Blaney Chevy 183.793
16 78 Regan Smith Chevy 183.681
17 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 183.602
18 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 183.576
19 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 183.557
20 97 Kevin Conway Toyota 182.949
21 34 David Gilliland Ford 182.697
22 66 Michael McDowell Toyota 182.434
23 46 J J Yeley Chevy 180.977
24 71 Andy Lally Chevy 180.828

Line up for Race 2

1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevy 185.966 outside pole sitter
2 21 Trevor Bayne Ford 185.445
3 33 Clint Bowyer Chevy 185.223
4 31 Jeff Burton Chevy 185.071
5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 184.911
6 6 David Ragan Ford 184.612
7 99 Carl Edwards Ford 184.475
8 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 184.271
9 00 David Reutimann Toyota 184.019
10 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 184.008
11 15 Michael Waltrip Toyota 183.966
12 1 Jamie McMurray Chevy 183.685
13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 183.595
14 56 Martin Truex Jr. Chevy 183.456
15 20 Joey Logano Toyota 183.206
16 60 Todd Bodine Toyota 183.057
17 13 Casey Mears Toyota 182.867
18 77 Steve Wallace Toyota 182.574
19 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 182.120
20 32 Terry Labonte Ford 181.492
21 37 Robert Richardson Jr. Ford 181.466
22 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 181.316
23 64 Derrike Cope Toyota 177.894
24 92 Brian Keselowski Dodge 177.581

#57 Norm Benning (Chevy) could be added to one of the Gatorade Duels if he practices on Wednesday in one of the practice sessions. Benning didn’t practice on Saturday, Feb 12th so he was not allowed to make a qualifying attempt on Feb 13th.