Ryan Blaney has given Team Penske its second win of Speedweeks with an overtime victory in the first Duel at Daytona while Chase Elliott took out the second encounter.
Blaney led Joey Logano to another one-two for Penske’s Ford outfit, but an even better result went begging when Clash winner Brad Keselowski effectively wrecked himself to cause the final Caution.
Running third, Keselowski checked up behind Logano on Lap 58 of the scheduled 60, choosing to move across as Jamie McMurray got a run on the outside of Car #2 and turned it into the wall.
Logano had led for virtually the whole race until that point, having passed Daniel Suarez at the end of the opening lap.
However, Blaney got by in the same moment which tempted Keselowski into his race-ending move, and held on at the final restart with the overtime finish taking the race to 63 laps.
Darrell Wallace Jnr finished third, having passed Logano in the final two laps before being pipped at the chequered flag.
Daytona 500 pole-sitter Alex Bowman opted to preserve his Hendrick Chevrolet, dropping to the back of the field at the start and ultimately finishing 14th.
Jimmie Johnson, on the other hand, was involved in carnage again when he lost a tyre on Lap 9.
Despite efforts to get low and retreat to the pits, he lost control and hit Aric Almirola, causing the latter to cannon into the wall.
In Duel 2, Elliott led the final 34 laps on his way to a win over Kevin Harvick and Erik Jones.
Denny Hamlin and Harvick both took turns in the lead for the first 26 laps, save for the shuffling resulting from pit stops made under the single Caution of the race.
Remarkably, Elliott had taken the subsequent restart in last position as a penalty for his pit crew jumping over the wall too early during those stops.
Hamlin dropped off at the end, having already qualified on the front row for the Daytona 500, but Harvick continued to go after the leader.
That proved slightly costly for fellow Stewart-Haas Ford driver Clint Bowyer, who got caught out trying to push Harvick to victory, only for Jones to swoop and steal third place at the final corner.
Practice resumes on Friday and Saturday before Sunday’s (local times) Daytona 500.
VIDEO: Brad Keselowski crashes out of Duel 1
VIDEO: Duel 1: Final lap
Results: Duel 1, Daytona International Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 63 | 6 | Running |
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 63 | 56 | Running |
| 3 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jnr | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 4 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | Ford | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 5 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 8 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 10 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 11 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 12 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 13 | 00 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | Running |
| 15 | 51 | Justin Marks | Chevrolet | 63 | 1 | Running |
| 16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 57 | 0 | Crash |
| 17 | 92 | David Gilliland | Ford | 47 | 0 | Crash |
| 18 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 38 | 0 | Crash |
| 19 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 8 | 0 | Crash |
| 20 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 8 | 0 | Crash |
Results: Duel 2, Daytona International Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 60 | 34 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 60 | 7 | Running |
| 3 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 4 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 8 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 60 | 18 | Running |
| 10 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 11 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 12 | 78 | Martin Truex Jnr | Toyota | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 13 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Running |
| 15 | 96 | DJ Kennington | Toyota | 58 | 0 | Running |
| 16 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | Chevrolet | 58 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 55 | 1 | Running |
| 18 | 66 | Mark Thompson | Ford | 32 | 0 | Vibration |
| 19 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 11 | 0 | Crash |
| 20 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 11 | 0 | Crash |
For more of the latest NASCAR news stories, visit MotorRacing.com
Discussion about this post