Alex Bowman

The first week of racing at Daytona International Speedway was dominated by Hendrick Motorsports. 

The team, headlined by Jimmie Johnson, will try to extend its control of the first positions on the racing grid into Thursday's duels, which begin at 7 p.m. ET. 

Duel 1 determines the odd-numbered positions in the starting grid for Sunday's Daytona 500, while the even-numbered starting spots will be decided by Duel 2. 

Hendrick teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman secured the spots on the front row for Sunday's race in qualifying, and by achieving that, the pair will lead their respective duels to the green flag. 

Byron leads a Duel 1 field that features Johnson, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski, while Bowman starts on the pole for Duel 2, a race that is headlined by Chase Elliott and Joey Logano.

                 

Odds

Odds to win and race matchups from @SuperBookUSA for Thursday's NASCAR Gander RV Duel 1 & 2 from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida: pic.twitter.com/Fg2JqllARe

— Covers (@Covers) February 12, 2019

                

Predictions

All 4 Hendrick Drivers Start in Top 10 

Hendrick Motorsports is halfway to achieving the goal of putting all four of its cars into the top 10 of the Daytona 500 starting grid. 

Johnson and Elliott will attempt to join Byron and Bowman by placing high in the duels, and based off the team's performance so far at Daytona, it's likely to happen. 

After Byron and Bowman secured their spots on the front row, Johnson took first place the rain-shortened Clash on Sunday. 

Elliott is more than familiar with visiting the winner's circle after the Duels, as he's been victorious in one each of the last two years. 

Both Johnson and Elliott will start in second place in their respective duels with a teammate in front of them on the starting grid. 

Based off the early success all of the Hendrick cars have had, it wouldn't be shocking to see Byron, Johnson, Bowman and Elliott team up to run away from the rest of the field. 

Even if the field catches up to them at some point, Johnson and Elliott should have enough firepower and drafting partners to secure positions in the top 10 for Daytona. 

                       

Austin Dillon Puts Himself in Good Position to Repeat

Austin Dillon is looking to become the first driver since Sterling Marlin in 1994 and '95 to repeat as champion of the Great American Race. 

The driver of the No. 3 car starts Duel 2 in the fifth position, but his team's recent history in the duels isn't as good as other teams. 

Richard Childress Racing hasn't made a trip to Victory Lane after a duel since Kevin Harvick won Duel 1 in 2013. 

Despite that trend and Hendrick's domination going against him, Dillon should put together a solid race to earn a spot in the first three rows for the 500. 

The starting position earned by Dillon will be significantly better than his 14th starting position a year ago, and his high place on the starting grid will allow him to lead more laps and produce a strong overall performance to start the 2019 season.

                        

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

The Daytona 500 takes place Sunday, and on Thursday night, the starting order for this year's Great American Race will be set.

After qualifying occurred last Sunday, the Gander RV Duels at Daytona will determine the starting order beyond the front row. The first duel will feature the odd-numbered finishers from qualifying and set the order for the inside row. The second duel will feature the even-numbered ones and set the outside row.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Alex Bowman secured their starting spots by posting the top two lap times during the final round of qualifying. Their other teammates, Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott, posted the third- and fourth-fastest times, meaning it will be all-Hendrick front rows for both of Thursday night's duel races.

The winner of Duel 1 will start third on Sunday and the Duel 2 winner will start fourth, presuming Byron and Bowman don't win.

Once the final starting order is set, it will be clear which drivers will have some work to do on Sunday to make it to the front of the field.

      

Qualifying Results

1. William Byron (46.319 seconds, 194.305 mph)

2. Alex Bowman (46.355 seconds, 194.154 mph)

       

Duel 1 Starting Order

1. William Byron

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Daniel Hemric

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Brad Keselowski

6. Paul Menard

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Chris Buescher

13. Ryan Newman

14. Ryan Truex

15. Ryan Preece

16. Matt Dibenedetto

17. Bubba Wallace

18. Matt Tifft

19. Parker Kligerman

20. Landon Cassill

21. Cody Ware

      

Duel 2 Starting Order

1. Alex Bowman

2. Chase Elliott

3. Joey Logano

4. Clint Bowyer

5. Austin Dillon

6. Denny Hamlin

7. Erik Jones

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Aric Almirola

10. Kurt Busch

11. David Ragan

12. Michael McDowell

13. Casey Mears

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Brendan Gaughan

16. Kyle Larson

17. Ty Dillon

18. Ross Chastain

19. Corey LaJoie

20. B.J. McLeod

21. Joey Gase

       

Top Odds to Win Daytona 500 (via OddsShark)

Brad Keselowski (+700; bet $100 to win $700)

Joey Logano (+800)

Kevin Harvick (+1000)

Clint Bowyer (+1000)

Denny Hamlin (+1000)

Aric Almirola (+1200)

Kyle Busch (+1200)

Chase Elliott (+1200)

Ryan Blaney (+1400)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+1400)

Martin Truex Jr. (+1400)

Kurt Busch (+1600)

Alex Bowman (+2000)

Daniel Suarez (+2000)

Jimmie Johnson (+2000)

William Byron (+2000)

      

Moving Past Clash Incident?

Although the Daytona 500 is the first Monster Energy Cup Series race of the 2019 season, there has already been some competitive action. And there was already some controversy.

During Sunday's Advance Auto Parts Clash after Daytona qualifying, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson had a late run-in that ended with Menard as part of a 15-car wreck. Johnson, who said he inadvertently spun Menard, went on to win the rain-shortened race.

Menard led 51 of the 59 laps during the non-points exhibition before the late incident ended his day. On Wednesday, both drivers appeared to clear the air.

"We're moving on," Menard told reporters. "What’s done is done. We're not looking in the rear-view mirror on that one, just moving on."

"There's always lessons to learn going back and looking at the tape and talking to someone about those things," Johnson said, "but I think where he and I stand, I'm sure he wasn't happy after the race, but he knew it wasn't intentional, and it was more of racing thing than anything."

It will be interesting to see if this conflict has truly been resolved, or if it will lead to anything more either during the Daytona 500 or in the future.