Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
On the 15th anniversary of his father’s death at the Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took a dominant victory in the evening’s first Can-Am Duel. Rookie Chase Elliott and Earnhardt Jr. led the field to the green. Elliott led the first two laps of the Duel before the No. 88 took control of the race.
The drama in the first race of the night started early. Ryan Blaney was running in sixth when he reported a vibration to his No. 21 Wood Brothers crew. After telling his team the vibration was only getting worse, crew chief Jeremy Bullins elected to have Blaney pit early. Being a car without a charter, Blaney had to race his way into the Daytona 500, either via one of the two quickest speeds or by being the highest non-Charter car in the finishing order. Blaney had a guaranteed spot in the race by his qualifying speed, but he didn’t want to have to rely on that. Blaney was able to come back for a third place finish, despite dropping a lap down with the pit stop.
The only caution of the first duel came out with just less than 15 laps to go. Cole Whitt had a big head of steam with a big draft coming from Regan Smith, and as they approached a lonely Michael McDowell, the No. 59 of McDowell threw a block on the No. 98, causing Whitt to lose control and spin. Whitt suffered minimal damage, but a broken transmission forces the Premium Motorsports driver to miss the Daytona 500.
The last notable incident of race one came on the final lap when Brian Scott in his new Richard Petty Motorsports ride crashed all by himself.
Despite everybody else remaining calm for the most part, the race was filled with close-racing and battling for the lead, notably between Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Hamlin was able to grab the lead from Earnhardt following pit stops, getting the edge off of pit road. The pair played cat and mouse back and forth = Hamlin blocking as Earnhardt looked to make a move, but Earnhardt was able to make the move, taking the lead in the final laps.
Earnhardt, Jr. went on to win the first Can-Am Duel followed by Joey Logano, Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse in the top-10. Earnhardt, Jr. has had a strong car all week long, and the win tonight only cemented that further.
“We knew it was a real good car,” said Earnhardt. “A lot of people don’t talk about it but it won the 150 last year so it’s a real good car.”
By virtue of Blaney’s third place Duel finish, McDowell can fall back on his speed to qualify for the Daytona 500, and he couldn’t be happier.
“We were counting on him (Blaney) racing his way in, and then he had trouble, and then he got back up there,” said McDowell. “It’s just awesome to get this car into the Daytona 500. I can’t tell you what it means. We’re racing Sunday and I can’t wait to get it going.”
Josh Wise and the aforementioned Cole Whitt fail to qualify for the Daytona 500.
Like the first race of the night, Can-Am Duel No. 2 started with a pair of teammates on the front row, this time with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch leading the field to the green.
Ryan Newman began to develop an engine issue right around the halfway point of the race. The team wanted to keep Newman out until the scheduled pit stop but Newman had to take his No. 31 car to the garage, retiring from the race on lap 35.
When green flag pit stops hit on lap 38, everybody in the lead draft except Aric Almirola pitted. Almirola’s two total laps led were the only laps led by a non-JGR car in the race.
With two laps to go, Casey Mears who was running in the third spot would run out of fuel. This would cause the field to split, giving, Kyle Busch a big gap over Jamie McMurray and Jimmie Johnson . McMurray made a move on the No. 18 of Busch, but couldn’t make it stick, causing him to slow in front of Johnson. McMurray then went up to try and catch the momentum from Johnson, with the disturbance of air causing Johnson to get loose. Johnson then bounced off of Kurt Busch, before tagging the wall and spinning out in front of the field on the white flag lap, taking out himself, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex, Jr. and Danica Patrick, while also causing damage to Kurt Busch and A.J. Allmendinger.
Kyle Busch was able to drive his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota back to the checkered flag and claim victory followed by McMurray, Kurt Busch, Edwards, Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson, Danica Patrick, Brian Vickers, Matt DiBenedetto and Michael Annett in the top-10.
The Gibbs cars, specifically Busch and Kenseth, were the two dominant factors, and look to continue their winning ways on Sunday.
“The guys at Joe Gibbs Racing did a good job building cars over the off-season, so looking forward to starting the Daytona 500 from the fourth spot now,” said Busch. “(It’s) a lot of fun to win these things. Still means a lot for the guys in the shop.”
Due to the last lap crash, Kenseth will now have to go to a backup car, a circumstance the second place qualifier did not want to encounter as he will now have to start the Daytona 500 from the rear of the field. Johnson and Truex are also going to back-up cars following the crash.
“I actually tried to find a hole to get out there and saw the wreck coming before it started, and just got ran over from behind and pushed into the wreck,” said Kenseth. “It’s beyond disappointing.”
One driver who wasn’t disappointed was Robert Richardson, Jr. Richardson got locked in the field on his speed from time trials, since his teammate Matt DiBenedetto scored a ninth-place finish. Richardson will start his third Daytona 500 on Sunday, and his first Sprint Cup race since 2012. There was a feeling of relief for Richardson after making the field.
“The whole world has been lifted off of my shoulders for sure,” said Richardson. “I can’t thank everyone for giving me the opportunity. Two weeks ago I was out in my hay pasture and got a call that we were doing this deal. Now we’re here and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity.”
David Gilliland and Reed Sorenson weren’t as lucky as Richardson as they fail to make this year’s Daytona 500.
Now that the field is set, only a few more practices remain until 40 drivers will take to the track in hopes of chasing their dream of winning the Great American Race.
