NASCAR News: Reddick wins Duel 1, Bell wins Duel 2 at Daytona

Tyler Reddick scored his and 23XI Racing’s first Duel win at Daytona in Duel 1 while Christopher Bell made it a Toyota sweep in Duel 2.

They will lineup 3rd and 4th respectively on Sunday for the Daytona 500

Duel 1

Reddick led just the final lap on his way to victory. The new Toyota Camry XSE body has now won the Clash and the first Duel race to start its run in NASCAR Cup Series competition.

The No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota driver passed Kyle Larson down the backstretch on the final lap to take the lead and hold off the rest of the field.

Simultaneously, on the bell lap, Jimmie Johnson passed JJ Yeley off Turn 4 to lock into Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Yeley will not compete Sunday after coming up short against Johnson and missing the field.

Chase Elliott finished second, followed by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman in third. Carson Hocevar and Erik Jones completed the top five.

Daniel Suárez, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10.

Duel 2

Christopher Bell took the checkered flag in the second duel race, holding off the hard-charging Ford of Austin Cindric who made a daring move in Turn 3 on the final lap to pass Harrison Burton.

Kaz Grala nabbed the final transfer spot into the Daytona 500 by just 0.067 seconds over BJ McLeod. McLeod will not race on Sunday.

Denny Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek and Burton completed the top five in Duel 2. Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Justin Haley rounded out the top 10.

On Lap 49, a massive wreck occurred just past the start/finish line as Kyle Busch gave a push to Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet. The push turned Byron into Ryan Blaney, who collided hard into the wall and triggered an 11-car pileup. Keselowski, Noah Gragson, Briscoe, Riley Herbst, Burton, Bubba Wallace, Haley and McLeod were also among those in the incident.

Sheesh. Absolutely vicious hit for Ryan Blaney in the #12 Penske in Daytona 500 qualifying duels.

Christopher Bell threaded the needle (by luck and judgement) to win it. #Daytona500 #Nascar https://t.co/aubFy2xAgw

— Blaynos (@Blaynos14) February 16, 2024

Johnson Makes the Field

Jimmie Johnson was in a good spot to qualify for the Daytona 500 for most of the race before getting involved in a late-race incident with nine laps to go. Johnson battled JJ Yeley for position during the final run of the qualifying race with Johnson making the pass on the final lap to clinch his spot in the Daytona 500 field, marking his first official race competing in a Toyota.

Neither of Jimmie Johnson’s Daytona 500 wins came by virtue of a last-lap pass. Thursday night, facing a desperation scenario just to reach the “Great American Race” field, he converted one.

Johnson recovered from a late-race crash and placed his non-chartered No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota into the 40-car field for Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), finishing 12th in the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying race and foiling JJ Yeley’s heavy-underdog bid for one of the final starting berths. Yeley wound up 16th in his No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet, bringing a sour end to an 11th-hour partnership that materialized just days earlier.

“That was way more pressure than I ever wanted,” Johnson told his No. 84 team over radio communications on the cool-down lap. “Good job, guys. Thank you.”

Johnson was behind Yeley at the white-flag lap at Daytona International Speedway, rallying only in the final stretch after his frantic pleas for help in the aerodynamic draft were finally answered with a late push from Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Toyota. Yeley’s car drifted up the track through the final set of corners, making an evasive move when Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet slowed dramatically after a stack-up near the front. That’s when Johnson pounced, with Truex settling in behind him to cement the results.

The final spot in the Daytona 500 field went to Kaz Grala, who warded off BJ McLeod in Thursday’s second 150-mile qualifier for the final berth reserved for open, non-chartered cars. Fellow open drivers Anthony Alfredo and David Ragan both locked in their starting spots by virtue of their posted speeds in Wednesday night’s pole qualifying session.

TYLER REDDICK Quote

Finishing Position: 1st Duel 1

What did you learn as far as conditions for the race?

“This new Toyota Camry is truly a beast. It was a lot of fun to drive. It’s great to get this Nasty Beast Toyota in victory lane, that’s for sure. As for me, I’m still making a lot of mistakes, but I had a good restart. It was a lot of fun tonight.”

Can you talk about the move that you made at the end of the race?

“Just push. I just kept pushing. Everyone at Toyota and TRD put in great work on this brand-new Camry. It really does help because I can push that much harder. A good first outing for us on the speedway. Certainly, I’ve got to clean up some mistakes. I can’t seem to still hit pit road without hitting something, but hey we still won.”

Are there still things you want to work on with your car?

“I think the car is fine. I just have to work on myself, and I’ve got a few days to think about it. Hopefully, I can be hitting pit road good when I get to Sunday.”

Christopher Bell Quote

Finishing Position: 1st Duel 1

Christopher, we talked about it over and over again, but you’ve won on every style of track in NASCAR, but a superspeedway race, what does this win do for your confidence going into the big one on Sunday?

CHRISTOPHER BELL: Yeah, it feels good. These plate races, man, I don’t know what to think of ’em. Me and Adam Stevens, my crew chief, we have a running joke, I say these races are 100% luck. I know that’s not true, but it seems like we’ve been struggling to get to the end of it. I know I’ve been a common denominator in a lot of the wrecks. Feels good to do everything well today.

Daytona Duel 1 Results

Daytona Duel 2 Results

Daytona 500 Starting Lineup