Tony Stewart won Thursday's first Gatorade Duel under caution, earning the right to start Sunday's Daytona 500 in the third position behind pole-sitter Carl Edwards.

It was Stewart's third Gatorade Duel win, following up victories in 2005 and 2007. The defending Sprint Cup Series champion led for 21 of the 60 laps.

Stewart's win did come at the expense of teammate Danica Patrick, who crashed out on the final lap. Patrick is already in the Daytona 500, so she'll simply have to start in the back of the field on Sunday.

Patrick made contact with Aric Almirola after her former JR Motorsports teammate was shoved down the track by Jamie McMurray. She crashed nearly full speed into the inside retaining wall on the backstretch, but was able to walk away from the unhurt.

Michael McDowell and Robby Gordon both earned spots in the Daytona 500 by virtue of being the top two finishers who hadn't already qualified. McDowell finished fourth and Gordon was fifth. Rounding out the top five were Dale Earnhardt Jr. (second) and Marcos Ambrose (third).

Here are the results from the first Gatorade Duel:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3. Marcos Ambrose
4. Michael McDowell (gets transfer spot for Daytona 500)
5. Robby Gordon (gets transfer spot for Daytona 500)
6. Jeff Burton
7. Carl Edwards
8. AJ Allmendinger
9. Kevin Harvick
10. Jamie McMurray
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12. Trevor Bayne
13. Brad Keselowski
14. David Ragan
15. Aric Almirola
16. Danica Patrick
    
17. Denny Hamlin
18. Michael Waltrip
19. David Stremme
20. Mike Wallace
21. Terry Labonte
22. David Gilliland
23. Juan Pablo Montoya
24. Paul Menard
25. Landon Cassill