DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Petty Enterprises had one of its best days in recent years Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.

Bobby Labonte, in his first race with the team after arriving from Joe Gibbs Racing, placed fourth and Kyle Petty finished sixth.

"This is huge," Labonte said. "I wish we hadn't had that late caution, I believe we had a run going. All in all, I'm really happy."

Labonte's effort means he'll start eighth in Sunday's Daytona 500. It's his best start for this race since 1999. Petty starts 12th, his best start for the 500 since he won the 1993 pole.

"It was a really good day for Petty Enterprises," Petty said. "I can't say enough about Evernham engines. I've said it all winter long. They're really stout. They've made huge gains on their restrictor-plate stuff.''

Learning day

Rookie Denny Hamlin's up-and-down week continued.

Hamlin won the Budweiser Shootout on Sunday night but hasn't had as much luck since. The Chesterfield, Va., native scraped the wall in practice Wednesday and missed most of the session.

He missed his pit box in Thursday's qualifying race and had to return to pit road a second time. He recovered to finish ninth, which will put him 17th on the starting grid for the 500.

"Our car wasn't as good as it was Sunday," Hamlin said. "We didn't get much practice [Wednesday]. We didn't really get a chance to work on it and make it better.

"This was a good practice for us and we can go on and hopefully make it better for the 500."

Close calls

Independent driver Kirk Shelmerdine made the Daytona 500. Evernham Motorsports driver Scott Riggs didn't.

Riggs, who finished fourth in last year's 500, was among 15 drivers who failed to make the race. Riggs was with a new team that could not rely on owner points to guarantee a starting spot. A gearing problem in time qualifying forced him to try and make the 500 field through his qualifying race. He finished too far back in the field to transfer.

"That's the kind of risk you take when you come down here with no [owner] points," Riggs said. "I think without the gear failure in qualifying we wouldn't be in this situation."

Also, Scott Wimmer failed to make the race for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. It's the first time since 1983 the Abingdon, Va., team has not been in the 500 field.

Shelmerdine, who was Dale Earnhardt's crew chief when Earnhardt won four Cup titles, was the last driver to make it on speed. Others making the field on speed were Travis Kvapil and Hermie Sadler.

Those who made the field through their qualifying race were Robby Gordon, Mike Wallace, Kevin Lepage and Bill Elliott.

Terry Labonte, driving for the new team co-owned by former Dallas Cowboy quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, earned the final starting spot with a champion's provisional.

Pit stops

Sterling Marlin will go to a backup car after damaging his car in the first qualifying race. Marlin ran into the back of Dale Jarrett while under caution as the field slowed to drive around debris. ... Mark Martin won the pole for tonight's Craftsman Truck series race. It's Martin's first career truck pole. Bill Lester will start second for Bill Davis Racing. Stacy Compton starts third with Jon Wood fourth and Mike Skinner fifth for BDR.

Sunday's lineup

Daytona 500

At Daytona International Speedway

1. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 189.151 mph.

2. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet.

3. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford.

4. (5) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet.

5. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford.

6. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford.

7. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevy.

8. (43) Bobby Labonte, Dodge.

9. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevy.

10. (6) Mark Martin, Ford,.

11. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford,

12. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge.

13. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge.

14. (42) Casey Mears, Dodge.

15. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevy.

16. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford.

17. (11) Denny Hamlin, Chevy.

18. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge.

19. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevy.

20. (7) Robby Gordon, Chevyt.

21. (66) Jeff Green, Chevrolet.

22. (41) Reed Sorenson, Dodge.

23. (21) Ken Schrader, Ford.

24. (09) Mike Wallace, Dodge.

25. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford.

26. (19) J. Mayfield, Dodge.

27. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge.

28. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevy.

29. (49) Brent Sherman, Dodge.

30. (55) M. Waltrip, Dodge.

31. (61) Kevin Lepage, Ford.

32. (40) David Stremme, Dodge.

33. (36) Bill Elliott, Chevrolet.

34. (22) Dave Blaney, Dodge.

35. (25) Brian Vickers, Chevry.

36. (18) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet.

37. (07) Clint Bowyer, Chevy.

38. (01) Joe Nemechek, Chevy.

39. (14) Sterling Marlin, Chevy.

40. (32) Travis Kvapil, Chevy.

41. (00) Hermie Sadler, Ford.

42. (27) K. Shelmerdine, Chevy.

43. (96) Terry Labonte, Chevy.

Duels at Daytona

Daytona International Speedway

First race

1. (3) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 64 laps, 140.625 mph, $51,793.

2. (14) Carl Edwards, Ford, 64, $36,783.

3. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 64, $31,783.

4. (29) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 64, $26,783.

5. (28) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 64, $24,783.

6. (6) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 64, $22,383.

7. (1) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 64, $21,283.

8. (10) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 64, $20,283.

9. (7) Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet, 64, $20,258.

10. (18) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 64, $20,233.

11. (12) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 64, $20,208.

12. (16) Ken Schrader, Ford, 64, $20,183.

13. (2) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 64, $20,158.

14. (13) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 64, $20,133.

15. (24) Brent Sherman, Dodge, 64, $20,108.

16. (15) Kevin Lepage, Ford, 64, $20,083.

17. (5) Bill Elliott, Chevrolet, 64, $20,058.

18. (23) Mike Skinner, Dodge, 64, $20,008.

19. (22) Derrike Cope, Dodge, 64, $19,983.

20. (9) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 64, $19,958.

21. (4) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 64, $19,908.

22. (26) Larry Gunselman, Dodge, 64, $19,883.

23. (19) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 64, $19,833.

24. (27) Andy Belmont, Chevrolet, 63, $19,808.

25. (21) Randy LaJoie, Chevrolet, 62, $19,783.

26. (8) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet, 60, accident, $19,758.

27. (25) Chad Chaffin, Chevrolet, 58, accident, $19,733.

28. (17) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 26, accident, $19,708.

29. (11) Hermie Sadler, Ford, 12, overheating, $19,683.

Second race

1. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 64 laps, 146.490 mph, $51,793.

2. (4) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 64, $36,783.

3. (3) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 64, $31,783.

4. (2) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 64, $26,783.

5. (12) Mark Martin, Ford, 64, $24,783.

6. (19) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 64, $22,383.

7. (14) Casey Mears, Dodge, 64, $21,283.

8. (11) Greg Biffle, Ford, 64, $20,283.

9. (15) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 64, $20,258.

10. (10) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 64, $20,233.

11. (13) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 64, $20,208.

12. (24) Mike Wallace, Dodge, 64, $20,183.

13. (27) Scott Riggs, Dodge, 64, $20,158.

14. (26) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 64, $20,133.

15. (9) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 64, $20,108.

16. (5) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 64, $20,083.

17. (18) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 64, $20,058.

18. (29) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 64, $20,008.

19. (23) Michael Waltrip, Dodge, 64, $19,983.

20. (21) David Stremme, Dodge, 64, $19,958.

21. (16) Kirk Shelmerdine, Chevrolet, 64, $19,908.

22. (25) Chad Blount, Dodge, 64, $19,883.

23. (20) Dave Blaney, Dodge, 64, $19,833.

24. (7) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 63, $19,808.

25. (22) Morgan Shepherd, Dodge, 62, $19,783.

26. (8) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 60, accident, $19,758.

27. (28) Carl Long, Ford, 56, accident, $19,733.

28. (17) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 27, accident, $19,708.

29. (6) Joe Nemechek, Chevy, 26, engine failure, $19,683.

Race Statistics

Time of race: 1 hour, 8 min., 16 sec.

Margin of victory: 0.162 seconds.

Caution flags: 3 for 10 laps.

Lap leaders: Burton 1-13, Stewart 14-28, Sadler 29-64.

Race Statistics

Time of race: 1 hour, 5 min., 32 sec.

Margin of victory: 0.127 seconds.

Caution flags: 3 for 11 laps.

Lap leaders: Gordon 1-2, Labonte 3-6, Ky.Busch 7-28, Gordon 29-64.