Ellliott Gains First Victory in First Duel

Chase Elliott held off a hard charging Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski to gain his first victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and lock in his pole position. Elliott took the lead from Keselowski with a commanding move and was able to hold the lead like a veteran as he came to the checkered flag and took the victory.

Early in the race, Joey Logano had a lose wheel and ultimately went a lap down after having to pit. He was able to gain the free pass during the competition caution and would just conserve his Daytona 500 car, he would finish ninth.

The only crash related caution came when Corey LaJoie made contact with Reed Sorenson sending Sorenson toward the same wall Kyle Busch hit in 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Sorenson was able to walk away from the hard crash, but his shot at making the Daytona 500 just went up in smoke. Also involved in that crash was Paul Menard, He would finish 20th, one lap down.

With that crash,  Lajoie is the third driver of the open teams to guarantee a spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500. DJ Kennington and Timmy Hill will battle in the second duel for that last spot.

Results from Daytona

1. Chase Elliott
2. Jamie McMurray
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Trevor Bayne
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Aric Almirola
9. Joey Logano
10. Cole Whitt
11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12. Daniel Suarez
13. Kyle Busch
14. Matt DiBenedetto
15. Landon Cassill
16. Chris Buescher
17. Joey Gase
18. Corey LaJoie
19. Brendan Gaughan
20. Paul Menard
21. Reed Sorenson