Duels set field for NASCAR’s Daytona 500. Some surprise qualifiers — and near misses
Jimmie Johnson woke up Thursday morning feeling confident, but once he put on his fire suit, butterflies kicked in.
The weight of the situation caught up with Johnson, the signature 2024 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, as he got dressed in his motor home. The 48-year-old was about to climb into a Toyota Camry and chase a spot in the Daytona 500 lineup.
Johnson started 18th in the first of two duels — which determine the third to 40th positions in the race as Wednesday’s qualifying session locked Joey Logano and Michael McDowell into the front row — and began the final lap in the back of the field.
He was battling JJ Yeley, who was well ahead of him on the back straightaway, and Johnson could see Yeley’s No. 44 car. Martin Truex Jr. came to help Johnson — but was running side-by-side and wouldn’t be able to get behind him in time.
Thoughts flashed through Johnson’s mind.
“I’m not gonna make the Daytona 500,” he said. “I’ll have to call all our partners. I’m gonna have to stand in the suite and shake hands during the 500 and not drive a car — this is running through my mind as I’m catching him.”
A three-wide move through the final turn lifted Johnson over Yeley and into his 21st Daytona 500. That happened just 10 laps after Johnson got caught up in a wreck heading into Turn 3, and he worked from 18th to finish the race 12th after the restart.
“There’s a lot more riding on my performance these days than when I was a full-time driver,” Johnson said. “Not only my own personal goals, but then being a driver, with what’s going on with being a team owner trying to help grow a race team.”
Tyler Reddick goes from eighth to first on last lap to Duel 1
Tyler Reddick won the first duel of his career.
After starting Duel 1 in 19th, Reddick worked through the field and began the final lap in eighth. He surged to the inside and passed everyone, including Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.
“It’s probably the most careful I’ve ever driven one of these Cup cars back to Victory Lane,” Reddick said. “For me, winning here means a lot. It’s been a while since I’ve done that.”
The first duel win for 23XI Racing puts Reddick in the third position to start Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Christopher Bell wins Duel 2; Kaz Grala punches ticket into 500
Christopher Bell took the checkered flag in Duel 2 with a last-lap pass of his own.
With Harrison Burton pushing him, Bell passed Denny Hamlin during the final lap and ran to the checkered flag. The win gives Toyota its first duel sweep since 2013, and Bell will start alongside Reddick in the second row on Sunday.
“It’s a good showing for the new Camry on the superspeedways,” Bell said. “We didn’t plan on qualifying well, but our hopes were that we wanted to race well. And we certainly did.”
Kaz Grala, the 25-year-old Boston native, will run in the eighth Cup Series race of his career on Sunday. He beat BJ McLeod for the final spot with a 12th-place finish.
“I’ve been in enough of these duels to know that anything can happen,” Grala said. “You’re really never out of it completely. I just kept focused and confident that hopefully something would work out, and sure enough, things played to our favor there.”
Daytona 500 starting lineup
1. Joey Logano (Qualifying Time)
2. Michael McDowell (Qualifying Time)
3. Tyler Reddick (Duel 1)
4. Christopher Bell (Duel 2)
5. Chase Elliott (Duel 1)
6. Austin Cindric (Duel 2)
7. Alex Bowman (Duel 1)
8. Denny Hamlin (Duel 2)
9. Carson Hocevar (Duel 1)
10. John Hunter Nemechek (Duel 2)
11. Erik Jones (Duel 1)
12. Harrison Burton (Duel 2)
13. Daniel Suarez (Duel 1)
14. Zane Smith (Duel 2)
15. Ty Gibbs (Duel 1)
16. Brad Keselowski (Duel 2)
17. Kyle Larson (Duel 1)
18. William Byron (Duel 2)
19. Chris Buescher (Duel 1)
20. Chase Briscoe (Duel 2)
21. Ross Chastain (Duel 1)
22. Justin Haley (Duel 2)
23. Jimmie Johnson (Duel 1)
24. Bubba Wallace (Duel 2)
25. Ryan Preece (Duel 1)
26. Kaz Grala (Duel 2)
27. Martin Truex Jr (Duel 1)
28. AJ Allmedinger (Duel 2)
29. Corey LaJoie (Duel 1)
30. David Ragan (Duel 2)
31. Todd Gilliland (Duel 1)
32. Josh Berry (Duel 2)
33. Austin Dillon (Duel 1)
34. Ryan Blaney (Duel 2)
35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (Duel 1)
36. Kyle Busch (Duel 2)
37. Daniel Hemric (Duel 1)
38. Riley Herbst (Duel 2)
39. Anthony Alfredo (Duel 1)
40. Noah Gragson (Duel 2)
Failed to qualify
JJ Yeley (Duel 1)
BJ McLeod (Duel 2)
