Daytona Duels: Kyle Busch wrecks, Joey Logano wins. Who’s eliminated from Daytona 500?

Daytona International Speedway saw two eventful Duel races on Thursday night ahead of the 2023 Daytona 500.

Among the highlights:

▪ Joey Logano took the Duel 1 win. The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion is among the best restrictor-plate racers on the circuit and proved it with the victory — even if he needed help from Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to edge Christopher Bell down the final stretch.

▪ Aric Almirola notched the Duel 2 win, edging out Austin Cindric.

▪ Kyle Busch spun out from the front on the backstretch about halfway through the Duel 2 race. That ended his day — and it also ended the days of Austin Hill, Travis Pastrana and Riley Herbst. Busch on the wreck: “We were just getting pushed for two straight laps, and it didn’t want to hang on anymore. It overloaded on the left rear and spun out the wrong way on the straightaway. It just is what it is.”

▪ Conor Daly, the IndyCar star who didn’t participate in Wednesday’s single-car qualifying because of car troubles and who struggled early on Thursday, raced his way into a Daytona 500 slot by virtue of some late luck. He finished the race a lap down, but that ultimately didn’t matter because Hill (the other Open car he was competing with) was collected in the aforementioned wreck and didn’t finish.

▪ Zane Smith edged Chandler Smith in the first Duel race, which allowed Zane to qualify for Sunday. Chandler Smith largely ran a good race outside of incurring a devastating speeding penalty on pit road with about 40 laps to go. He spent most of the race a lap down because of that.

▪ Chandler Smith and Hill did not qualify for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

▪ Racing legends Travis Pastrana and Jimmie Johnson qualified on speed in Open cars on Wednesday, but they each learned a bunch from Thursday’s run. Johnson said he learned a lot about the Next Gen car in the race. The seven-time Cup Series champion hasn’t raced a Cup car in two years. Does he feel ready, though, for the Daytona 500? “Hell no,” Johnson said with a smile. “All I got is 70 laps now? I need a few more. Tomorrow and Saturday I’ll get some more laps, and I’ll be ready.”

▪ The front row of the Daytona 500 was established on Wednesday during single-car qualifying. Alex Bowman will sit on the pole, and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Kyle Larson, will be P1 and P2, respectively. Bowman wisely fell back early in the field on Thursday; Larson competed for the win and finished sixth.

Starting lineup for Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 is set to begin just after 2:30 p.m. on FOX.

This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 9:50 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription