There is no doubt Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150s will be chock full of action. With so many drivers focused on a variety of agendas, the action will be intense and should make for excellent racing.

The first true test of how the competition will be during Sunday's Daytona 500, drivers will be jockeying for position, feeling each other out in the draft and simply trying to bring the car home in one piece. While those locked in the show will be racing to better their starting spot, a number of drivers will be racing with the only goal of making the race. With so many agendas, the Duels make for great racing.

"We'll race for starting position, there's no doubt," Hall of Fame/Yates Racing's Bobby Labonte told HardcoreRaceFans.com. After posting the 11th-fastest qualifying time last Sunday and will roll off fifth in Thursday's second Gatorade Duel 150. Already locked in the show, the former Cup Series champ with one Duel victory (1999) is looking to stay in the front of the pack during today's race. "If you get back to like 15th place in the draft you're just hanging on, it's not very good. The car just doesn't handle well back there so you'd rather be up front all day because it's better air up there. That's the best practice we're going to have. You can't practice [Wednesday] because there aren't enough cars out there."

The nature of restrictor plate racing has, in a way, eliminated the need for a good starting spot. 2007 Daytona 500 champion Kevin Harvick started 34th the year he took captured the win. In Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout, Harvick ran in the back for the majority of the race, but was able to make a charge to the front when it mattered most and scored the win.

Despite starting towards the rear of the field when he won in 2007, Harvick feels starting up front in the 500 has it's definite advantages. While the racing in the opening stages and closing laps of the 500-mile event are intense, the mid-section of the race tends to get strung out once handling starts to take affect. For Harvick, a better starting spot helps stay up front throughout the entire race.

"Obviously the beginning is pretty intense because everybody is bunched up, then I think you see everybody kind of settle in," Kevin Harvick explained of the type of racing typically seen in the Daytona 500. "The hard part is...the thing that happens in the 500 is guys want to get away from the pack. So if you see 7, 8,10 cars get lined up and if you're in that second group you're not going to be able to catch up unless everybody gets lined up behind you.

"Once you start running through green flag racing it tends to get strung out," Harvick added. "Guys are content with that because they know they're out of a mess if you're in that front pack - let me say you should have a better chance of being out of the mess."

One of the teams looking to race their way into the Daytona 500, the way Furniture Row Racing approaches their Gatorade Duel is mostly dependent on what happens during the first race. With the fastest qualifying time of the go-or-go-home cars not already locked into the show, the No. 78 crew feels comfortable heading into the Duels, but knows anything can happen.

"A lot of what we do in the second race tomorrow is dependent on what the 21 [Bill Elliott] and the 14 [Tony Stewart] do in the first race," crew chief Jay Guy told HardcoreRaceFans.com. "If they make it in we're going to race a bit more cautiously, but we're still going to race and try and get a good start for the 500."

"I don't think it matters a whole lot," Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer said of starting towards the front at Daytona. "When it comes to those last three laps a lot of stuff goes out the window anyway. Here's what you'll see [in the Duels], a lot of people that start towards the back are going to stay towards the back. People that start towards the front are going to stay towards the front. People in the middle are going to be looking to get in the front or go back further, because the middle is just a mess right now.

"You've got people with different agendas heading into the 150s," Casey Mears went on to say. "That really dictates what you're going to do. You've got guys going in with, 'I've got nothing to lose, I don't car who I bounce off of to get in, I want to get in.' Then you have other guys that are going, 'okay, we just want to make into the 150s and then you have other guys that want to win the 150s no matter what. You do yourself right by knowing who those guys are and picking and choosing your battles in this race."

With so much at stake in Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150s, these will be two races you will not want to miss. Some will be racing to improve their starting position for Sunday's race, some will be simply trying to survive and others will be racing for their lives at any stake. For the under-funded single car operations that made the trip to Daytona have put everything they have into trying to make the race and Thursday's races give them that opportunity. These are two races that are a must-see for any Hardcore Race Fan.

Be sure to check back to HardcoreRaceFans.com for the latest news and results LIVE from Daytona International Speedway.  Following the conclusion of the Duels, we will have the complete line-up for the 51st running of the Daytona 500.