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February 13, 2025
By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — With a push from teammate Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace surged ahead of 2024 DAYTONA 500 winner William Byron to win Thursday night’s first Duel at Daytona 150-mile qualifying race and earn the third starting position for the Sunday’s 67th running of the Great American Race (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Driving the No. 23XI Racing Toyota, Wallace edged Byron by 0.082 seconds, as intense drama unfolded behind the two frontrunners.
With a determined charge over the final two laps, Justin Allgaier finished highest among the unchartered cars in the first Duel, ensuring that a JR Motorsports Chevrolet would compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race for the first time in company history.
With a massive wreck littering the asphalt behind them, polesitter Austin Cindric edged Erik Jones for the victory in the second Duel. Though Jones was first to the finish line, Cindric held a lead by inches when the caution lights illuminated as the cars approached the stripe.
In an unchartered No. 01 Rick Ware Racing Ford, Corey LaJoie raced his way into the DAYTONA 500 with a sixth-place finish in Duel 2.
“Thanks to Tyler (Reddick),” Wallace said after the first Duel. “That was awesome to see two team cars work together that well and learn a lot for Sunday. Did a great job pushing me. Our McDonald’s Toyota Camry was really fast. Two different balances from being in the pack to being out front. Have some work to do there.
“I’ve wanted one of these Duel wins for so long. All my buddies got one. Tyler got one last year. I was pissed off. I got one now. I’m good.”
With the unchartered car of J.J. Yeley boxed in on the bottom, Allgaier made a three-wide move to the top on the next-to-last lap and surged forward to earn the transfer spot into the DAYTONA 500.
With a ninth-place finish to Yeley’s 17th, Allgaier earned the 17th starting position in Sunday’s race.
“He got up to the top on that last lap, and I didn’t think that was possible, but he got to the top and made it work,” said team co-owner and two-time DAYTONA 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr., who couldn’t hide his elation at making the race for the first time as a car owner.
“This was rough emotionally, but damn it, it worked out.”
“This means a lot to our team, this little team of JR Motorsports,” Allgaier added. “Dale Jr. is an amazing race car driver. He’s an amazing dad, car owner. You can tell how much he wanted this and our whole shop wanted this.”
A wild multicar wreck on Lap 14 eliminated the unchartered cars of Chandler Smith and Helio Castroneves in the first Duel. Smith was running third but moved down the track into the Chevrolet of Justin Haley, triggering a crash that damaged eight cars.
Smith’s Ford shot up into the outside wall, as did Castroneves’ Chevrolet. Out of control, Castroneves’ car bounced on the apron before climbing the track into the wall a second time.
“I got hit and ended up hitting the wall in Turn 2 pretty hard and broke a toe link,” said Castroneves, who nevertheless will start Sunday’s race on an open exemption provisional.
“It’s disappointing because the No. 91 Wendy’s Chevrolet was really good. The boys on the PROJECT91 team did an amazing job. They have a little bit of work to do, unfortunately. It wasn’t the night that we wanted, but we’ll take the provisional. So many people have been talking about it, but we will take it, and we will learn more for the race.”
At the end of the second Duel, Cindric had to wait until NASCAR reviewed the finish and confirmed him as the winner. With Cindric taking the checkered flag, Jones will start fourth on Sunday.
“I honestly thought I got him, but I wasn’t going to sit there and argue about anything,” said Cindric, who locked himself into the second starting position for the DAYTONA 500 during Wednesday night’s time trials. “But, yeah, it’s awesome. Glad to put on a great show for the fans here.”
Without a full-time ride in 2025, LaJoie underscored the significance of the Great American Race.
“You forget how special this race is, right, (until) you have to race for it, when you have to earn it, because when you’re racing full-time, it’s just the first one of 36. But when it’s the one that you think about for months, it means that much more.”
Ty Dillon finished third in Duel 1, followed by Ross Chastain, Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Allgaier and Kyle Busch.
In Duel 2, Chris Buescher ran third, followed by Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek and Christopher Bell.
The open cars of Anthony Alfredo and BJ McLeod failed to make the DAYTONA 500 field.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Duel 1 at DAYTONA
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Thursday, February 13, 2025
- (15) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 60.
- (11) William Byron, Chevrolet, 60.
- (5) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 60.
- (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 60.
- (14) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 60.
- (10) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 60.
- (4) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 60.
- (8) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 60.
- (17) Justin Allgaier(i), Chevrolet, 60.
- (7) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 60.
- (13) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 60.
- (9) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 60.
- (2) Ryan Preece, Ford, 60.
- (3) Josh Berry, Ford, 60.
- (12) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 60.
- (21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 60.
- (23) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 60.
- (18) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 60.
- (1) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, Radiator, 26.
- (22) Chandler Smith(i), Ford, Accident, 13.
- (16) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, Accident, 13.
- (20) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, Accident, 13.
- (6) Zane Smith, Ford, Suspension, 6.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.909 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 8 Mins, 45 Secs. Margin of Victory: .082 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 20 among 10 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Preece 1;C. Briscoe 2-4;T. Gibbs 5;J. Berry 6-9;C. Elliott 10-15;M. McDowell 16-17;C. Elliott 18-19;J. Berry 20-21;C. Elliott 22-28;R. Chastain 29;W. Byron 30;B. Wallace 31-32;W. Byron 33-35;B. Wallace 36-37;R. Preece 38-39;B. Wallace 40-52;T. Dillon 53-55;B. Wallace 56;T. Dillon 57;B. Wallace 58-60.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Bubba Wallace 5 times for 21 laps; Chase Elliott 3 times for 15 laps; Josh Berry 2 times for 6 laps; Ty Dillon 2 times for 4 laps; William Byron 2 times for 4 laps; Ryan Preece 2 times for 3 laps; Chase Briscoe 1 time for 3 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 2 laps; Ty Gibbs 1 time for 1 lap; Ross Chastain 1 time for 1 lap.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Duel 2 at DAYTONA
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Thursday, February 13, 2025
- (1) Austin Cindric, Ford, 60.
- (18) Erik Jones, Toyota, 60.
- (9) Chris Buescher, Ford, 60.
- (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 60.
- (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 60.
- (17) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 60.
- (7) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 60.
- (10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 60.
- (19) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 60.
- (4) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 60.
- (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 60.
- (13) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 60.
- (20) Anthony Alfredo(i), Chevrolet, 60.
- (15) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 60.
- (22) Cody Ware, Ford, 60.
- (16) Cole Custer, Ford, 60.
- (21) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 60.
- (11) Noah Gragson, Ford, 60.
- (14) Jimmie Johnson, Toyota, 60.
- (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 48.
- (12) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
- (6) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 47.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 161.628 mph.
Time of Race: 0 Hrs, 55 Mins, 41 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution.
Caution Flags: 2 for 6 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Cindric 1;D. Hamlin 2-15;E. Jones 16-17;R. Blaney 18;E. Jones 19-31;D. Suarez 32-33;R. Blaney 34-36;D. Suarez 37-43;R. Blaney 44;B. Keselowski 45-46;C. Buescher 47-53;A. Cindric 54;C. Buescher 55;A. Cindric 56;C. Buescher 57;A. Cindric 58-59;E. Jones 60.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Erik Jones 3 times for 16 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 14 laps; Chris Buescher 3 times for 9 laps; Daniel Suarez 2 times for 9 laps; Austin Cindric 4 times for 5 laps; Ryan Blaney 3 times for 5 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 2 laps.
