Thursday’s races set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. β Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric won the Daytona Duel races to determine the starting lineup for NASCAR’s Daytona 500.
Wallace won the first duel by holding off William Byron. It’s the first Daytona Duel win of his career. Cindric was ahead of Erik Jones in a side-by-side photo finish as the caution flag waved for a crash happened in the background.
The Daytona 500 is on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET. The inside row for the race is set by the first duel while the outside row is determined by the second duel.
Duel 1
The first duel race was the more action-packed of the two events. Multiple cars were damaged in wrecks, some beyond repair.
Wallace, William Byron, and Ty Dillon traded the lead in the closing laps with the 23XI Racing driver prevailing. Dillon hit the wall on the final lap and missed his opportunity to get the win.Β
Byron, Dillon, Ross Chastain, and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five.
Justin Allgaier finished ninth, the highest of the open cars. The finish locked him into the Daytona 500, giving Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports its first NASCAR Cup Series start.
Chandler Smith, another open driver, missed his shot at the race after wrecking on lap 17. Helio Castroneves was also taken out in the crash, but he is guaranteed a spot in the field with a provisional.
Martin Truex Jr. was locked in as an open car through qualifying.
J.J. Yeley finished 17th and will miss the Daytona 500.
RELATED: NASCAR 2025 things to watch: Rookie of the Year battles
Duel 2
The second duel race was much calmer. Drivers were in fuel-saving mode for the first 40 laps and did not run at full throttle.
The first crash did not happen until after pit stops. Alex Bowman hit Daniel SuΓ‘rez from behind, sending both cars spinning and collecting Brad Keselowski.
A seven-lap sprint to the finish ensued to determine the race. As the field raced to the finish on the white flag, a crash took out several cars. Jones beat Cindric to the finish line but NASCAR called a caution just before the leaders made it back, with Cindric prevailing.
Corey LaJoie finished fourth to lock his way in as the highest-finishing open car.Β
Jimmie Johnson was locked in as an open car through qualifying.
Anthony Alfredo and BJ McLeod missed the Daytona 500.
RELATED: NASCAR files appeal against 23XI and Front Row ahead of Daytona 500 qualifying
You can stream WCNC Charlotte on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV, just download the free WCNC+ app to get the news that impacts you.
