The twin races of the 2023 Duels at Daytona exhibited very different racing styles, but at the end of the night, two NASCAR Ford teams held on to nab the victories and secure their starting positions in the second row for the forthcoming Daytona 500 on February 19th.
For the first Duel, Joey Logano guided the No. 22 NASCAR Ford Mustang to lead 25 laps as the Blue Oval-badged racers teamed up to form a single-file freight train for most of the race. Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang, meanwhile, also led quite a few laps, showing the way for 30 circuits around the famous 2.5-mile asphalt trioval through the relatively tame race. The checkered flag fell on Logano’s No. 22, however, as he barely edged out his teammate Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang at the line for the win.
“The execution of this race is everything,” Logano said of the Ford racers’ pit strategy that kept them close together. “You know most likely there won’t be a caution, so you’ve got to do a good job on pit road cycling yourself to the front.”
The second Duel was quite a bit more action-packed. An early caution bunched the field on Lap 8 of the 60-lap event, and unlike the first Duel, the field stayed two-wide for most of the event. However, late in the race, the No. 10 NASCAR Ford of Aric Almirola charged to the front alongside the No. 2 Mustang of Austin Cindric, who took advantage of a six-car wreck to take over the lead. Almirola guided the No. 10 Mustang to lead 17 laps, including the final one, taking the second Blue Oval victory of the night.
“This is so cool,” said Almirola after winning his second career Duel. “Daytona is such a special place to me. I grew up sitting in those grandstands dreaming about racing here.” He added, “I know Sunday’s [Daytona 500] the big one, we’re going to keep focused on that one. The job’s not finished.”
As such, Logano’s No. 22 Mustang and Almirola’s No. 12 Mustang will start on the second row for the Daytona 500, right behind Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy Camaro ZL1 and Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 60 | 29 | Ford Mustang |
2 | 11 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt/Rheem Toyota | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
3 | 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Blue DEF/PEAK Ford | 60 | 30 | Ford Mustang |
4 | 7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
5 | 13 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
6 | 9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
7 | 6 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 60 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
8 | 15 | 36 | * Zane Smith(i) | Wellcare Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
9 | 5 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
10 | 2 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
11 | 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | AdventHealth Chevrolet | 60 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
12 | 14 | 43 | Erik Jones | GUNS N' ROSES Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
13 | 17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
14 | 12 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | Carvana Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
15 | 16 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
16 | 18 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Cottonelle Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
17 | 1 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
18 | 21 | 13 | * Chandler Smith(i) | Quick Tie Inc. Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
19 | 10 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy/Interstate Batteries Toyota | 59 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
20 | 19 | 51 | Cody Ware | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 59 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
21 | 20 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Ferris Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 60 | 17 | Ford Mustang |
2 | 4 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Discount Tire Ford | 60 | 3 | Ford Mustang |
3 | 7 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
4 | 9 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Nexlizet Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
5 | 20 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Celsius Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
6 | 1 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 60 | 9 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
7 | 17 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | gener8tor Skills Ford | 60 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
8 | 11 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 60 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
9 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx 50 Toyota | 60 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
10 | 8 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
11 | 14 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Wendy's Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
12 | 6 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 60 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
13 | 10 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Monster Energy Toyota | 60 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
14 | 15 | 31 | Justin Haley | Cirkul Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
15 | 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 60 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
16 | 18 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Power Slap Rumble Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
17 | 21 | 50 | * Conor Daly(i) | BitNile.com Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
18 | 16 | 62 | * Austin Hill(i) | Bennett Transportation/Beard Chevrolet | 41 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
19 | 5 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 3CHI Chevrolet | 40 | 28 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
20 | 19 | 15 | Riley Herbst(i) | SunnyD Ford | 40 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
21 | 12 | 67 | * Travis Pastrana | Black Rifle Coffee Toyota | 40 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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