The 2012 Gatorade Duels were a pair of stock car races held on February 23, 2012, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The 60-lap races, which drew 80,000 spectators, served as qualifiers for the 2012 Daytona 500, the premier event of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Stewart-Haas Racing's Tony Stewart won the first race, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. second, and Marcos Ambrose third. Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth won the second race, marking Kenseth's and his team's first victory in the Gatorade Duels. Regan Smith took second and Jimmie Johnson was third.

Carl Edwards led the first race from pole position on the first lap but shared the lead Stewart for the next three laps. Following that, Earnhardt took the lead on the fifth lap and held it until a caution period for a multi-car accident on lap nine. Denny Hamlin gained the lead on lap 15, but Stewart reclaimed it a lap later. With a pass on Stewart on the 17th lap, Hamlin reclaimed the lead and held it until his pit stop 26 laps later. Stewart took the lead on lap 43 and held it for the next 17 laps and two caution periods to win the first Gatorade Duel. There were three cautions and eight lead changes among five different drivers in the first race.

Greg Biffle was the early leader in the second race. Kenseth passed Biffle on the fourth lap for the lead. On the 13th lap, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch overtook him for the first two places. Biffle had passed Kyle Busch by lap 23 and retained the lead until his pit stop 14 laps later. Kenseth attempted a race-winning slingshot with three laps remaining in the race, overtaking Biffle when the final lap began, and he maintained it to win the second Gatorade Duel. There were five lead changes among five different drivers, and no cautions were given throughout the second race.

The Gatorade Duels were a duo of stock car racing qualifiers held on February 23, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway,^[3][4] a superspeedway that holds NASCAR races.^[6] Its standard track is a four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway.^[7] Daytona's turns are banked at 31 degrees and the front stretch (the location of the finish line) is banked at 18 degrees.^[7] The defending winners of the races were Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton.^[8][9]

In the early years, qualifying for the Daytona 500 took various forms: one timed lap, an average of two laps, or the better of two laps. The concept of having two separate races to determine the starting lineup of the Daytona 500 dates back to the first event in 1959. The first of the two 100 mi (160 km) qualification races featured Convertible class cars, while the second featured Grand National cars.^[10] The races were 100 mi (160 km) from 1960 and 1967, and 125 mi (201 km) in 1969.^[11] Prior to 1971, the races yielded points to the Drivers' Championship.^[12] Large well-established teams regard the races as practice for the Daytona 500, although successfully qualifying for the event would allow smaller less-established teams to compete in future NASCAR events during the season. If the team did not qualify, it risked closing until sponsorship could be secured.^[13]

The top 35 drivers were assigned to Gatorade Duel races based on their Daytona 500 qualifying positions. The first Duel featured drivers who qualified in odd-numbered positions, as well as the 2012 Daytona 500 pole winner. The second Duel featured competitors who qualified in even-numbered positions. The results of both Duels determined the drivers' starting places in the Daytona 500. The fastest drivers who did not qualify in the top 35 filled positions 40 to 42. An eligible previous champion took the 43rd spot. In the absence of a former champion, the 43rd position would be filled by the next-fastest driver. Two eligible drivers outside the top 35 qualified for the Daytona 500 by winning two transfer slots in each Duel.^[14]

After some of the cars' engines overheated while traveling in packs during the 2012 Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR increased the engines' pressure release values from 25 psi (1.7 bar) to 28 psi (1.9 bar) to help reduce overheating and mitigate the consequences of high-temperature driving.^[15]

Two 90-minute practice sessions were held on February 22.^[2] Matt Kenseth was fastest in the first practice session with a time of 44.809 seconds. Trevor Bayne was second-quickest with a lap-time 0.009 seconds slower. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third-fastest, ahead of Marcos Ambrose, Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Michael McDowell and Kevin Harvick. Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne.^[16] During the session, Brad Keselowski slowed to avoid Ryan Newman, forcing Bowyer to turn into Keselowski, whose car spun into the grass on the backstretch.^[2][17] Keselowski's car sustained minor damage, which could be repaired and he did not need to use a backup car.^[2][17] Aric Almirola led the second practice, in which 25 drivers competed, with a lap of 45.065 seconds—nearly one-tenth of a second faster than David Stremme. David Ragan was third, ahead of Robert Richardson Jr. and Greg Biffle. Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Bill Elliott, Michael Waltrip and Kahne completed the top ten ahead of the races.^[18]

During the session, which saw drivers running in packs and drafted off each other,^[2] Juan Pablo Montoya collided with Kahne and sent his car spinning into the grass on the front stretch, tearing off some of its nose.^[17] Kahne was required to use a backup car for the rest of Speedweeks.^[17] Because the qualifying grids were determined by the order in which drivers qualified in Daytona 500 pole position qualifying, Carl Edwards started from pole in the first race and Biffle in the second. Edwards was joined on the grid's front row by Dale Earnhardt Jr., with Ambrose in third. Stenhouse and Bayne started in fourth and fifth positions respectively. Biffle was joined by Mears on the front row for the second race, with Jeff Gordon in third. Martin Truex Jr. started fourth, and Martin began from fifth.^[19] The thirteen drivers who were not guaranteed to qualify for the Daytona 500 and were required to get into the event on speed or being the highest-placed two drivers who were not guaranteed entry were Elliott, Bayne, Robby Gordon, Kenny Wallace, Richardson, Tony Raines, Stremme, Dave Blaney, Mike Wallace, Waltrip, J. J. Yeley, Nemechek, and McDowell.^[20]

The qualifying races for the 2012 Daytona 500 began at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and was broadcast live on television in the United States by Speed,^[1] and by TSN2 in Canada.^[23] Commentary was provided by Mike Joy, with analysis given by former driver Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds.^[24]

Both races lasted for 60 laps over a distance of 150 mi (240 km), and attended by 80,000 spectators.^[25] The weather on the grid before start of the first race were hot and humid,^[26] with the air temperature was 82 °F (28 °C); a ten percent chance of rain was forecast. Dr. L. Ronald Durham of Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Florida began the pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Vocalist Catrina Mack from Orlando, Florida performed the national anthem.^[27]

The majority of the two-vehicle draft tandems observed at the 2011 Daytona races and greatly disliked by fans appeared to be absent; vehicles could not stay connected together for long periods of time until the engine in the following car overheated.^[28][29]

After the first race, Stewart drove to the victory lane; the win earned him $55,725.^[3] He said, "The fact that we've won 17 times here and not won on the right day is proof it's good momentum, but it's no guarantee obviously. It's nice to come here, especially for Steve and I, being our first race together, to be able to come out and have two really good strong and solid races back-to-back is an awesome start for us."^[36] Earnhardt felt the race was "pretty good" and congratulated Stewart on his victory. He also said that he intended to begin the Daytona 500 not in a backup car.^[45] Ambrose was happy with his finishing third, "We learned a lot for Sunday, we got a good result. We are smiling right now but it was very close to being the other way around." He also said he was hoping to carry his good form into the Daytona 500.^[46]

Waltrip, who failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 after crashing on lap 52, said he felt he had let everyone down, adding, "It's just really hard. I don't know what to say. It's just sad."^[33] Truex commented on his team owner Waltrip's non-qualification, "It's a tough one for him, He's been coming here a long time and this race means everything to him. It was hard to watch that."^[33] Patrick, who was hit by Almirola on the final lap and crashed heavily into the wall, said, "It sucks [to hit the wall like that]. You just have to brace yourself. I guess in these situations, I just have to be glad that I'm a small driver and that I've got room. Kinda hug it in and let it rip."^[36] She also said the crash was "a blessing in a big disguise".^[36] Patrick, along with Gilliland, Montoya and Menard, were required to drive their backup cars for the Daytona 500.^[31] After the wreck on lap nine, Gilliland cut his thumb on his helmet; the thumb required one stitch but he was confident about driving his backup car.^[47] According to Menard, who was involved in the lap nine wreck, "Somebody turned (David) Gilliland; I saw him get sideways underneath me. I was three lanes up and I tried to clear him and didn't quite make it."^[45] It took 56 minutes and 34 seconds to complete the first race; because it ended under caution, no margin of victory was recorded.^[3]

After winning the second race, Kenseth drove to the victory lane; earning $56,726 for the victory.^[4] Kenseth's victory awarded him and his team Roush Fenway Racing their first Gatorade Duels victory.^[28][42] Kenseth said, "Jimmie Johnson gave me a huge push there and really worked nice for me the whole race. Without that push it never would've got there. Greg lost his drafting partner. We were able to separate him and the #78 [Regan Smith] and we had such a big run that Greg was kind of a sitting duck."^[43] Second-place finisher Smith stated while he would have preferred to win the race, he had no complaints, "It's good to know that we have a car capable of running up front."^[48] Johnson, who finished third, said, "It was an awesome race. We really had a shot to win that one. It was unfortunate there at the end that there were some lapped cars that were kind of mixed in with the leaders. It would have been nice if they would have let us race there; at least from the white flag on."^[49] Biffle admitted that he should have remained on the inside line.^[42] It took 46 minutes and 23 seconds to complete the second race, and the margin of victory was 0.209 seconds.^[4]

After the races, there was continued discussion about overheating engines in high temperatures. Harvick said the temperatures of around 80 °F (27 °C) had affected the racing, the grills were "too tight" and competitors chose to remain in a single-file formation because of overheating. Smith said he believed there was no efficient method of tackling the problem. McMurray advocated the widening of the grille, saying, "it was a little hard to race because you got too hot".^[50] One day after the second race, NASCAR announced that no further changes would be made.^[50] Menard criticized the style of driving that was observed during both races, saying, "NASCAR is trying to dictate physics. Physics says two cars are going to push and they're trying to make rule changes to keep us from doing it, so it's kind of hybrid pack racing and tandem racing. It's causing a pretty unsafe situation."^[29] Robby Gordon was critical of Terry Labonte receiving a champion's provisional, saying, "When you look at it, besides pure speed, I think three guys make it on speed and, obviously, Terry takes a past champion. I disagree with that."^[51] He conceded, "But it is what it is. It's the rules. Like I said, we don't make the rules, we just play by them, and sometimes you can't manipulate them."^[51]