Thursday’s Daytona Duels provided plenty of action and drama. With the field set for Sunday’s Daytona 500, here are the major takeaways and storylines from Thursday’s races.
Bubba Back in Victory Lane
A win in a duel isn’t officially a victory, but Bubba Wallace will certainly take it. The Mobile, Alabama, native hasn’t won since Kansas in September of 2022, but got back into victory lane after leading 20 laps and holding off the snarling pack on Thursday. Wallace has always been a solid superspeedway racer, and this win proves his Toyota will be fast on Sunday. Wallace will start third in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
JR Motorsports is in the big show
With a ninth-place finish in duel 1, Justin Allgaier raced his way into the Daytona 500. The race will be JR Motorsports’ first ever Cup Series start, and the No. 40 Chevrolet proved to be pretty quick on Thursday. Dale Jr was rightfully thrilled after the race, and a Daytona 500 win would only make the boss man happier.
Photo Finish Decides Duel 2
Erik Jones won Duel No. 2 at Daytona – until he didn’t. Initially, it was thought that Jones had beaten Austin Cindric to the line by 0.004 seconds, but upon further review, the caution came out with Cindric barely ahead. Jones was forced to drive back to pit road, while a bewildered Cindric walked across the infield in a futile attempt to grab the checkered flag. Cindric will start second in Sunday’s Daytona 500. While Helio Castroneves crashed in Duel 1, the open-exemption provisional will afford a spot in the Daytona 500.
Crashes Crush Hopes and Dreams
Open drivers Chandler Smith, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley and Anthony Alfredo all saw their hopes of making the Daytona 500 come to an end on Thursday. Smith took what was perhaps the hardest hit of the night, making brutal contact with the turn two wall on lap 14 of Duel 1. While Yeley’s car incurred damage in the crash, he was able to continue, but wa unable to form a run in the closing laps. Alfredo and McLeod were too far back to make a move on Corey LaJoie in the closing laps of Duel 2, and both drivers were caught up in the last-lap crash that played out as the checkered flag flew.
Duel 1 Results:
- Bubba Wallace
- William Byron
- Ty Dillon
- Ross Chastain
- Tyler Reddick
- AJ Allmendinger
- Austin Dillon
- Chase Elliott
- Justin Allgaier
- Kyle Busch
- Ty Gibbs
- Michael McDowell
- Ryan Preece
- Josh Berry
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- JJ Yeley
- Carson Hocevar
- Chase Briscoe
- Chandler Smith
- Justin Haley
- Helio Castroneves
- Zane Smith
Duel 2 Results:
- Austin Cindric
- Erik Jones
- Chris Buescher
- Denny Hamlin
- Joey Logano
- Corey LaJoie
- Todd Gilliland
- Ryan Blaney
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Christopher Bell
- Kyle Larson
- Riley Herbst
- Anthony Alfredo
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Cody Ware
- Cole Custer
- BJ McLeod
- Noah Gragson
- Jimmie Johnson
- Brad Keselowski
- Daniel Suarez
- Alex Bowman
Chase Briscoe and Cindric will lead the 41-car field to green on Sunday. The 67th annual Daytona 500 will go green shortly after 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with coverage on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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