Can-Am Duel at Daytona

Chase Elliott wins race #1 Can-Am Duel at Daytona

Joe Menzer


Chase Elliott won the first Can-Am Duel at Daytona on Thursday night after starting from the pole, holding off a number of NASCAR’s top restrictor-plate racers to do so.

“I know this is just a Duel win and doesn’t count toward the playoffs, but this still is a big deal for our team,” said Elliott, who already had won the pole for Sunday’s Daytona 500 (live on FOX at 2 p.m. ET).

Brad Keselowski led the early portion of the race, except for a brief period when Kyle Busch grabbed the lead just before the competition caution on Lap 25.

But on Lap 36, Elliott surged back to the front. He stayed there until just 12 laps remained in the 60-lap race, holding off the likes of Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick until another caution came out when Corey LaJoie appeared to get into the back of Reed Sorenson, wrecking Sorenson’s No. 55 Toyota on the front stretch.

Both LaJoie and Sorenson were attempting to race their way into Sunday’s Daytona 500, since neither had a guaranteed spot entering the night.

Their accident set up a restart with nine laps to go, and Harvick almost immediately got up to the side of the leader Elliott. The second-year driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet held on, though, holding off Harvick and the rest of the field over the final laps to take the checkered flag.

For the first time since 1971, the top 10 finishers of the Duel earned points, with 10 going to the winner, nine to the second-place finisher, eight to third and so on.

McMurray finished second, with Harvick, Keselowski and Matt Kenseth rounding out the top five.

Denny Hamlin passes Dale Earnhardt Jr. late for victory in Can-Am Duel Race No. 2


Tom Jensen

Denny Hamlin passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps to go to win the second and final Can-Am Duel Daytona 500 qualifying race Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch finished third behind Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, as Earnhardt faded to sixth on the last lap.

Earnhardt, who on Sunday qualified second for the Daytona 500, started the second Duel on the pole in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. It was Earnhardt’s first race since last July, when he was sidelined by a concussion for the entire second half of the NASCAR season.

Earnhardt took the early lead, but was quickly challenged by last year’s Daytona 500 winner, Denny Hamlin, who pushed the issue on the high line, taking the lead on Lap 3. The two traded the lead early on, the competition fierce in the opening stage of the race.

But Hamlin fell back and Earnhardt firmly held onto the top spot, leading 25 of the first 27 laps before the scheduled competition caution.

When the race restarted on Lap 31, Ryan Blaney led briefly, but Earnhardt quickly reassumed the point.

Then, drama as David Ragan tagged Jimmie Johnson, who in turn hit Blaney, with Johnson and Blaney both suffering damage that took them out of contention.

A flat tire on Johnson’s car brought out a caution on Lap 48, with the race restarting with nine laps to go.

Hamlin quickly moved to second place and set after Earnhardt as the laps wound down.

With 2 laps to go, Hamlin got a run on the high line and went into the lead.

On the final lap, Hamlin was able to hold on, while Earnhardt got hung out and fell back to sixth.