Wallace, Cindric Win Daytona Duel Races

The Duels at Daytona International Speedway were Thursday night, finalizing the starting lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric prevailed in each race respectively, each one fighting off furious charges from their competition.

Not only do the Duels set each column of cars as they come to the green flag in the Daytona 500, they also award the first points of the NASCAR Cup Series season. Wallace and Cindric are now tied for the points lead with ten apiece, as each of the top ten Duel finishers received points for their finish. The two runner-ups, Erik Jones and William Byron, each received nine points.

A Fateful Duel #1

Though he reflected on often finding himself mired in traffic in the closing laps of Daytona races, Bubba Wallace managed to place himself at the front as Duel 1 winded down on Thursday. His primary competition was William Byron, A.J. Allmendinger, and – perhaps surprisingly – Ty Dillon.

After a year off from full-time Cup competition, Dillon was a late frontrunner in his #10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing. He saw his car peer out ahead of Wallace more than once, and had a fighting chance until the final lap. When Allmendinger, Dillon’s teammate, received a massive push from Justin Allgaier’s #40 Chevy, he had the momentum to pass both Dillon and Wallace for the win. Dillon’s risky block on the backstretch caused Allmendinger to nudge him into the wall, but Dillon was able to hang on and preserve a third place finish.

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“[Ty] made a late block, a bad block,” Allmendinger said after exiting his #16 Chevrolet. “He was still coming up when we were about six miles an hour quicker than the field.” Though he was frustrated by the early end to his race-winning run, Allmendinger showed optimism about the speed Kaulig Racing’s cars showed in the duel.

Also of note in Duel 1 was the clinching of a Daytona 500 spot by Justin Allgaier, heading up the maiden Cup Series voyage for JR Motorsports. Team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was visibly emotional seeing Allgaier make the race, having said before the green flag that merely making the Daytona 500 as an un-chartered team would make the weekend a success for him. Allgaier prevailed over the other open cars of JJ Yeley, and Chander Smith who was eliminated by an early crash. IndyCar icon Helio Castroneves also advanced with a provisional Daytona 500 entry from NASCAR.

Wallace had the distinction of experiencing victory lane for the first time after several close calls in the past. He finished second in the Daytona 500 in 2018 and 2022, and has three top fives in fifteen regular season Daytona starts. His #23 Toyota for 23XI Racing showed consistent speed and helpful chemistry with teammate Tyler Reddick. “All in all a good night for our team,” he said. “I thought it was pretty cool just seeing how well the 23 and the 45 worked together and moving to that top lane forward together the whole night. That was really, really special.” Wallace also had the distinction of having his four-month-old son Becks join him for a win for the very first time.

Duel #2: A Tale of Two Winners

It’s not every day the driver who takes the checkered flag and does the victory burnout doesn’t get to take home the trophy, but that’s exactly what happened to Erik Jones in Duel #2 Thursday. As the field wrecked behind the leaders coming to the checkered flag, Jones beat Austin Cindric to the finish line by a fender, and scoring showed him as the winner for several minutes. It was only when NASCAR’s scoring decision came down that he realized it was actually Cindric, who was the leader at the moment of caution on the final lap, who would be awarded the victory.

“You expect to race to the line so you kind of set everything up to be ahead there,” Jones said after the news. “We did that, so we did everything we could to win. In regulation we would’ve. But it just didn’t work out.” In his characteristically humble demeanor, Jones still readily conceded that the ruling taking the win from him was legitimate.

“It wasn’t exactly expected,” Cindric said in the media center afterward. The Team Penske driver was caught so off-guard, he even struggled to track down the checkered flag on the frontstretch. “It’s weird. I guess from a due diligence standpoint, it’s better to have it right than not right, and the light was clearly on, and we were clearly ahead. I more just feel bad for Erik that he had to do the victory lap and all of that.”

The late race crash caused damage to several race cars ahead of Sunday’s Daytona 500. Contact between Christopher Bell and Shane van Gisbergen turned the latter driver left in front of traffic, collecting Cody Ware, Cole Custer, Kyle Larson, Riley Herbst, and Anthony Alfredo. NASCAR activated the caution lights as the leaders zoomed toward the checkered flag, giving safety crews a head start on responding to the wreck’s multiple victims.

Transferring out of Duel #2 to the Daytona 500 with a strong run Thursday was Corey LaJoie, working his #01 Ford for Rick Ware Racing to a sixth place finish. LaJoie joked that he bet on himself so hard he practically spent his kids’ college savings on arranging the ride, and was repaid for his leap of faith when Take 5 Oil Change and DuraMax came on to sponsor the car. Not making the race in Duel #2 was Anthony Alfredo, who was quick this weekend but not able to get around LaJoie on the final lap, and BJ McLeod, who was forced to pull up when the last lap carnage unfolded in front of him.

Below are the results of each of Thursday night’s Duel races, and the official starting lineup for the 67th annual Daytona 500.