DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Daytona 500 starting lineup is set after the second Duel race at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night.
Chase Elliott captured his third Duel win in his 11th start, and he scored 10 points. This put him in a tie with Duel No. 1 winner Joey Logano for the points lead, and it secured a starting spot on the second row for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Elliott first won a Duel race in 2017, his second season with Hendrick Motorsports. He then repeated in 2018. He nearly won again in 2024, but had to settle for a runner-up finish.
“Nice to get the NAPA Chevy a win,” Elliott said. “Not a 500. I’ve been here before and not the other one, so you have to kind of learn to take it a day at a time.
“Look, a great way to start the speed week for our team. Proud of our effort, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the boss, from top to bottom. Their commitment and will to win it pretty darn high. Proud to be a part of their team.”
Anthony Alfredo, one of three eligible Open drivers in the 60-lap race, had a clean performance. He did what he needed and finished ahead of BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley to lock up his spot in the Great American Race.
This moment clearly meant a significant amount to Alfredo, who fought back tears while doing his post-race interview with Fox Sports.
“My career is a lot ups and downs, and you never know when you get another shot to race on any Sunday, especially the Daytona 500, Great American race,” Alfredo said on pit road.
“So I have all my family here, my baby girl, Everleigh. I think I’ve only been this choked up twice in my life — when she was born and qualified for the Daytona 500.”
Alfredo’s first start in the Daytona 500 took place in the 2021 season. He only completed 14 laps as a rookie driver for Front Row Motorsports, a team with a guaranteed spot in race.
Three years later, he returned to the Great American Race as an Open driver for Beard Motorsports. He beat out two other drivers to lock up his spot and then he completed most of the race. He ultimately finished 27th after being collected in a 23-car crash.
This Duel race played out far more smoothly than the first, which Joey Logano won. The first Duel race on Thursday night had a caution for a pit road mishap involving Casey Mears and Noah Gragson. It then went to overtime after a crash involving Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and others.
The final incident in this race took place on the final lap of overtime. Corey LaJoie got spun into the field, which sparked off a multi-car crash. Mears navigated his way through the wreckage to lock up one of the final spots in the Daytona 500.
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