Bubba Wallace held off William Byron, Ty Dillon and Tyler Reddick to win Duel race No. 1 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on Thursday.
The win within the 60-lap, 150-mile race offers Wallace the third-place beginning spot for Sunday’s Daytona 500. The Cellular, Alabama, native led 20 laps to earn 23XI Racing’s second Duel win.
“Man, what an evening,” Wallace advised Fox Sports activities. “Our McDonald’s Toyota Camry was tremendous quick, two completely different balances from being out entrance to being within the again. I needed one among these Duel wins for therefore lengthy, I received me one now, I am all good.”
Byron, Ty Dillon, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, A.J. Allmendinger Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Justin Allgaier and Kyle Busch rounded out the highest 10.
Different notable finishers embrace Martin Truex Jr. in fifteenth, J.J. Yeley in seventeenth, Chase Briscoe in nineteenth, Chandler Smith in twentieth and Helio Castroneves in twenty second.
A ninth-place end ensured Allgaier a spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500, which will probably be Jr Motorsports’ first Cup Sequence begin.
“The feelings listed here are due to how a lot all people needed it,” an emotional Allgaier advised Fox Sports activities. “This man (Dale Jr.) right here, his lip was quivering and his palms have been shaking earlier than the race. I do not suppose I’ve ever seen that out of Dale Jr. This implies quite a bit to our workforce. You possibly can inform how a lot our entire store needed this.”
“First off, I am so happy with Justin,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. advised Fox Sports activities. “He put the workforce on his again these final couple of laps. He received to the highest, I did not suppose that was doable, however he made one thing work. Only a nice race automotive. Greg Ives has put collectively a gaggle of folks that’s motivated. This sport is wonderful, I really like the whole lot about it. I can not consider that we get to race on Sunday.”
A dejected Yeley got here up simply shy of racing his means into the Daytona 500.
“I simply wanted a little bit bit extra tempo,” Yeley advised Fox Sports activities. “I simply did not have that pull the place I might make one thing occur. Sadly, I misplaced a little bit little bit of my assist. I hoped for some carnage off flip 4 and it simply did not occur.”
Duel 2 will decide the skin row of the beginning lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500, in addition to figuring out the ultimate starter in Sunday’s race.
