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  • Denny Hamlin Wins the Daytona 500

    Denny Hamlin Wins the Daytona 500

    Denny Hamlin edged out his competition to win the Daytona 500.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota edged out the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. by 11 one-thousandths of a second to win the 58th running of the Great American Race.

    “I just remember pulling up in front of the 4 (Kevin Harvick) and him giving me a push and not letting off when he was pushing and ultimately that was the push to the victory for us,” Hamlin said.  “This is the best. I mean, it’s just the best. It’s the biggest race of my life. The Daytona 500 is – as a kid what you – this is the pinnacle of our sport and I’m just proud to be here.”

    After leading 95 laps, he had to jump to the outside line in front of Kevin Harvick on the final lap to get a run on teammate Matt Kenseth. He went up the track to pass him in Turn 3, but Kenseth tried to block him. Hamlin then dove under him, Kenseth got loose trying to block him and fell backward to finish 14th.

    Truex summed up the disappointing loss saying, “I did all I thought I could do. I had the lead ‘til like the start of the Daytona over there on the wall and it could have been 20 feet from the line, so just really proud of that effort, really proud of that for Bass Pro Shops and our first race with Toyota. He (Denny Hamlin) just side-drafted and I just should have – I probably should have run him up a little bit more, but I thought we were close enough that I could keep that foot or so, but I couldn’t so I lost it the last second.”

    Kyle Busch rounded out the podium in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

    Harvick came home fourth in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.

    Defending race winner Joey Logano was unable to get his No. 22 Team Penske Ford near the front in the end to make a run at a second win in the Daytona 500 and settled for sixth.

    “The 4 (Harvick) got in front of me and we started moving and then the 11 (Hamlin) saw that and jumped up there and got the push from both of us and then it was a heck of a finish. I don’t like being behind watching it. I want to be involved with it. Overall it is a great start for our Shell Pennzoil team and we kicked off the season with a bunch of great finishes down here in Daytona and we are looking forward to getting to Atlanta,” Logano said.

    Kyle Larson came home seventh in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet followed by Regan Smith in eighth in his No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet. Austin Dillon finished ninth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet while Kurt Busch rounded out the top-10 in his No. 41 SHR Chevrolet.

    Pre-race betting favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed out with 29 laps remaining and finished 36th.

    “It caught me by surprise,” Earnhardt explained. “I was trying to side-draft a guy beside me and boy, it pinned the right front. All the downforce there. We have been working on the balance all day. That was our problem. We really underestimated how important handling was going to be today.”

    Pole-sitter Chase Elliott spun out exiting Turn 4 and came to a crashing halt in the grass.

    “(I) just got in middle there a couple of laps before and got loose off of (turn) four and just lost. I hate it-it had been such a fun week and you hate to end the race before it even got started. Just disappointed for everybody,” Elliott said.

    The race lasted three hours, 10 minutes and 25 seconds at an average speed of 157.549 mph. There were six cautions for 31 laps and 20 lead changes among 15 different drivers. The final margin of victory was 11 one-thousanths of a second.

  • Chase Elliott Scores the Daytona Victory in XFINITY Race

    Chase Elliott Scores the Daytona Victory in XFINITY Race

    Not satisfied with the pole for the Daytona 500, Chase Elliott held off Joey Logano coming to the line to score the victory at Daytona International Speedway in the XFINITY Series. Elliott, at 20 years, two months and 23 days, also became the youngest XFINITY Series winner at Daytona.

    The driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet held off the No. 22 Team Penske Ford to win the PowerShares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway. When I say held off, I mean beating and banging to the line. Logano dented the right rear corner panel of Elliott’s car while getting pinched to the outside wall.

    “The plan was to make the move off of four and going to the top he blocked the first move and wiggled to the bottom and back to the top. At that point, it is a little late and then we touched each other and that is the killer,” Logano said.  “Once we had that touch it killed our momentum and I couldn’t pull him back enough to get in front of him.”

    Team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., had nothing but praise for Elliott.

    “Chase obviously did what he had to do there at the end of the race,” Earnhardt said. “I thought that was very gutsy to be able to really put such an aggressive block on the 22. He did what he had to do to keep the guy behind him, and it won him the race. 

    “I’m proud of Chase. It’s such a cool thing to be a part of his career. He’s going to do some amazing stuff in his career, and it’s awesome to be a little part of it.”

    Kasey Kahne rounded out the podium in third in his No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Elliott Sadler finished fourth in his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    Darrell Wallace Jr. finished sixth in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford while Brandon Jones came home seventh in his No. 33 RCR Chevrolet. Daniel Suárez finished seventh in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota followed by Blake Koch in ninth in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Brendan Gaughan rounded out the top-10 in his No. 62 RCR Chevrolet.

    The race lasted two hours, one minute and 13 seconds at an average speed of 194.898 mph. There were 19 lead changes among nine different leaders. It was slowed down four times for 17 laps.

    Complete Finishing Order:

    1) 88  – Chase Elliott
    2) 22 – Joey Logano
    3) 5  -Kasey Kahne
    4) 1  -Elliott Sadler
    5) 2 – Austin Dillon
    6) 6 – Darrell Wallace Jr
    7) 33 – Brandon Jones
    8) 19 – Daniel Suarez
    9) 11 – Blake Koch
    10) 62 – Brendan Gaughan
    11) 98 – Aric Almirola
    12) 7 – Justin Allgaier
    13) 3  -Ty Dillon
    14) 28 – Dakoda Armstrong
    15) – 51 Jeremy Clements
    16) – 16 Ryan Reed
    17) 5 – John Wes Townley
    18) 44 – David Starr
    19) 87 – Joe Nemechek
    20) 39 – Ryan Sieg
    21 ) 24 – Matt Tifft
    22) 4 – Ross Chastain
    23) 18 – Bobby Labonte
    24) 78 – B J McLeod
    25) 43 – Jeb Burton
    27) 48 – Brennan Poole
    28) 25 – Chris Cockrum
    29) 93 – Scott Lagasse Jr
    30) 0 – Eric McClure
    31 )20 – Erik Jones
    32) 52 – Joey Gase
    33) 7 – Ray Black Jr
    34) 42 – Kyle Larson
    35) 14 – Benny Gordon
    36) 89 – Morgan Shepherd
    37) 17 – Jeff Green
    38) 90 – Martin Roy
    39) 85 – Bobby Gerhart
    40) 1 – Ryan Preece

  • Earnhardt Tops the Chart in Final Practice

    Earnhardt Tops the Chart in Final Practice

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. topped the chart for the final practice session before the big race tomorrow.

    The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the final Daytona 500 practice session with a time of 45.655 and a speed of 197.131 mph.

    Joey Logano was second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.832 and a speed of 196.369 mph. Ryan Blaney was third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 45.851 and a speed of 196.288 mph followed by Brad Keselowski in fourth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford with a time of 45.857 and a speed of 196.262 mph. Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 45.904 and a speed of 196.061 mph.

    Kevin Harvick was sixth in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet, Greg Biffle was seventh in his No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford and  Chase Elliott was eighth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet. Brian Vickers was ninth in his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet as Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-10 in his No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Twenty-five cars took part in the session. Elliott had the fastest 10-lap average.

    Full Practice Results:

    Pos Car Driver Speed
    1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 197.131
    2 22 Joey Logano 196.369
    3 *21 Ryan Blaney # 196.288
    4 2 Brad Keselowski 196.262
    5 41 Kurt Busch 196.061
    6 4 Kevin Harvick 196.014
    7 16 Greg Biffle 195.959
    8 24 Chase Elliott # 195.839
    9 14 Brian Vickers 195.814
    10 15 Clint Bowyer 195.763
    11 38 Landon Cassill 195.236
    12 7 Regan Smith 195.135
    13 5 Kasey Kahne 194.397
    14 23 David Ragan 194.384
    15 *26 Robert Richardson Jr. 194.342
    16 6 Trevor Bayne 194.280
    17 46 Michael Annett 194.221
    18 48 Jimmie Johnson 193.719
    19 1 Jamie McMurray 193.075
    20 95 Ty Dillon(i) 192.951
    21 20 Matt Kenseth 192.806
    22 43 Aric Almirola 192.201
    23 44 Brian Scott # 192.160
    24 31 Ryan Newman 191.111
    25 34 Chris Buescher # 190.392
  • Mayhem Breaks Out in the Truck Race Late at Daytona

    Mayhem Breaks Out in the Truck Race Late at Daytona

    As is typically the case at Daytona, hell broke loose in the last few laps.

    As the field of trucks was hurdling down the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway with seven laps to go in the NextEra Energy Resources 250, Timothy Peters nudged Cameron Hayley out of place. This sent the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota up the track into the side of John Hunter Nemechek. Just as he got his car straight, he was turned again down through the grass.

    Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Rico Abreu and Austin Theriault were among the 18 cars collected in the Big One.

    Peters insisted he wasn’t to blame for the wreck.

    “It ain’t all my fault,” he screamed over the radio.

    Hayley said, “that’s Daytona.”

    “It was hard racing,” Hayley said. “I guess we just caught bumpers the wrong way. (Timothy) Peters got into the back of me. It’s just tight racing. It’s so hard there at the end, everyone’s bumping into each other and trying to hold a pretty wheel. I guess that’s Daytona, but it sucks for my guys because they worked so hard.”

    This wreck forced NASCAR to red-flag the race for 30-minutes. After the cleanup was complete, it set up the final restart leading to the multi-car wreck on the final lap in Turn 1.

    Johnny Sauter was ahead of Ryan Truex when the caution flew and scored his 11th career victory in the Camping World Truck Series. It was also his first win since 2014 and the first ever win for Chevrolet in the Truck Series at Daytona.

  • Rowdy Wins the Duel, Richardson Moves on Through

    Rowdy Wins the Duel, Richardson Moves on Through

    Kyle Busch won the second Can-Am Duel race at Daytona International Speedway Thursday night and the field is now set for the Great American Race.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 35 of the 60 laps on his way to taking the checkered flag. Busch will start fourth in the Daytona 500 provided teammate Matt Kenseth doesn’t go to a backup car.

    Busch spoke about the win and its implications for the Daytona 500.

    “Definitely a unique opportunity for us and our team,” he said. “Joe Gibbs Racing has come down with more speed this time around. In the Can-Am Duels tonight we also showed we had good speed. Denny had a fast car. Myself, Matt and Carl, we ran up in the top three much of the race.”

    “Daytona obviously lends itself with this restrictor plate package to pack racing,” Busch continued. “We see that quite a bit down here in Daytona. It’s always a good, exciting race, tends to be towards the end. I wouldn’t expect anything less out of the Daytona 500 here on Sunday.”

    The race ended under caution after what had been a tame race when Jimmie Johnson get loose in Turn 1 and collected Martin Truex Jr. and Kenseth on the final lap. Kurt Busch also sustained damage from being hit by Johnson.

    After finishing ninth, Matt DiBenedetto will advance to and start 18th in his first career start in the Daytona 500. Because he didn’t have to fall back on his qualifying speed, this allowed teammate Robert Richardson Jr. to grab the final transfer spot into the Daytona 500.

    “Being able to race in my first Daytona 500 this weekend is going to be a heck of an honor, DiBenedetto said. “I’ve dreamed of it since I was five, so I’m excited.”

    Richardson also expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to participate in the Daytona 500.

    “I’m very, very honored to be a part of BK Racing, having another opportunity to run here at the Daytona 500. I’ve been in it once before, but this one is very, very special to me. My wife and I welcomed our brand-new baby boy who was born in early December. Every bit of earnings we get from this race is going to go into a college fund for him. It’s just the good Lord looking down on us and blessing us. Got to give all the glory to Him.”

    David Gilliland, Reed Sorenson, Cole Whitt and Josh Wise all failed to make the Daytona 500.

     

  • June Bug Takes the Win, McDowell Gets In

    June Bug Takes the Win, McDowell Gets In

    The pied piper of Daytona scored the win in duel race No. 1 and Michael McDowell will have his chance to race for immortality on Sunday.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. led all but 17 of the 60 laps to take home his fifth career Cam-Am Duel victory at Daytona International Speedway in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. His performance was a clinic that showed he’ll be the car to beat this Sunday in the Daytona 500. He’ll start the Daytona 500 in third. Joey Logano finished second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford and will start fifth in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. led all but 17 of the 60 laps to take home his fifth career Cam-Am Duel victory at Daytona International Speedway in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. His performance was a clinic that showed he’ll be the car to beat this Sunday in the Daytona 500. Earnhardt will start the Daytona 500 in third place.

    He gave credit for the win to his car, affectionately named Amelia.

    “The car is awesome. I don’t really get too confident, I don’t want to get overly confident in what I’m doing. But the car really does everything I ask it to do. When you have a car that you know can do the things that this car can do, you’re willing to take those gambles and risks to pull out and pass and not worry about getting shuffled to the back because you feel like the car is really capable of doing what you’re going to ask it to do every time you make a move.

    “It’s just a fun car to drive, really special car. Rick leaned into the window, I told him, whatever happens to this thing from here on out, he needs to keep track of it. Might be one he wants to put in a museum one day because it’s done a lot of good things.”

    Joey Logano finished second in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford and will start fifth in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

    Ryan Blaney didn’t need to fall back on his qualifying speed to make the Daytona 500 as his third-place finish was enough to transfer him into the race. He’ll start the Daytona 500 in seventh.

    Michael McDowell and his No. 59 Circle Sport Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet will transfer into the Daytona 500 based on his qualifying speed. He’ll start the Daytona 500 in 37th.

    Immortality wasn’t meant to be for Cole Whitt and Josh Wise. Whitt suffered damage in a spin with less than 20 laps remaining and retired his car from the race. Wise lost the draft with two laps to go and finished in 17th behind McDowell.

  • NASCAR Racing Schedule for Daytona

    NASCAR Racing Schedule for Daytona

    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series head to Daytona International Speedway as Speedweeks continues culminating with the 58th edition of the Daytona 500 Sunday. Please check below for the complete schedule.

    Wednesday, Feb. 17:

    On Track:

    5-5:45 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – FS1
    6:10-6:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – FS1

    Garage Cam: (Watch Live)

    4:30 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series

    Thursday, Feb. 18:

    On Track:

    Noon-12:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series final practice – FS1
    1:30-2:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series practice – FS1
    4-4:55 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series final practice – FS1
    7 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duel #1, (60 laps, 150 miles) – FS1 (See Lineup Below)
    9 p.m. (approx.): Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duel #2 – (60 laps, 150 miles) – FS1 (See Lineup Below)

    Garage Cam: (Watch live)

    1 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch Live)

    10:30 a.m.: FOX Sports Announcement
    Approx 8 p.m.: Post-Duel 1 Press Conference
    Approx 10 p.m.: Post-Duel 2 Press Conference

    TV Schedule – Additional Programming:

    7 a.m.: NASCAR America – NBCSN
    1 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FS1
    3 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FS1
    5 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1
    5 p.m.: NASCAR America – NBCSN

    Friday, Feb. 19:

    On Track:

    10:30-11:55 a.m.: XFINITY Series practice – FS1
    12:00-12:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – FS1
    1-1:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series practice – FS1
    2-2:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series practice – FS1
    3-3:55 p.m.: XFINITY Series final practice – FS1
    4:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    7:30 p.m.: Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 – (100 laps, 250 miles) – FS1

    Garage Cam: (Watch Live)

    10 a.m.: XFINITY Series

    Press Conferences: (Watch Live)

    11:30 a.m.: Real Racing 3 Daytona Experience
    Approx 9:45 p.m.: Post-Camping World Truck Series Race Press Conference

    TV Schedule – Additional Programming:

    4 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition – FS1
    6 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FS1
    6 p.m.: NASCAR America – NBCSN

    Saturday, Feb. 20:

    On Track:

    10 a.m.: XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying – FS1
    12:15-1:55 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series final practice – FS1
    3:30 p.m.: XFINITY Series PowerShares QQQ 300 (120 laps, 300 miles) – FS1

    Press Conferences: (Watch Live)

    Approx 6 p.m.: Post-NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Press Conference

    TV Schedule – Additional Programming:

    11:30 a.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FS1
    2 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FS1
    2 p.m.: 18 Rising – NBC
    3 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – XFINITY – FS1

    Sunday, Feb. 21:

    On Track:

    1 p.m.: Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 (200 laps, 500 miles) – FOX

    Press Conferences: (Watch Live)

    9:45 a.m.-11 a.m.: Daytona 500 Pre-Race Press Conference
    Approx 5 p.m.: Post-Daytona 500 Press Conference

    TV Schedule – Additional Programming:

    10:30 a.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1
    Noon: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series FOX Pre-Race Show – FOX
    1 a.m.: NASCAR Victory Lane – FS1

    Duel Driver Lineups:

    * Denotes Open, non-Charter teams

    CAN-AM DUEL 1 LINEUP
    POSITION CAR DRIVER TEAM
    1. 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports
    2. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports
    3. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing
    4. 21* Ryan Blaney* Wood Brothers Racing
    5. 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing
    6. 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing
    7. 22 Joey Logano Team Penske
    8. 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports
    9. 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing
    10. 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske
    11. 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing
    12. 44 Brian Scott Richard Petty Motorsports
    13. 59* Michael McDowell* Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing
    14. 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing
    15. 34 Chris Buescher Front Row Motorsports
    16. 32 Bobby Labonte Go Green Racing
    17. 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing
    18. 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports
    19. 98* Cole Whitt* Premium Motorsports
    20. 23 David Ragan BK Racing
    21. 30* Josh Wise* The Motorsports Group
    22. 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing

     

    CAN-AM DUEL 2 LINEUP
    POSITION CAR DRIVER TEAM
    1. 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing
    2. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
    3. 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
    4. 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing
    5. 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing
    6. 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing
    7. 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing
    8. 95 Ty Dillon Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing
    9. 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports
    10. 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing
    11. 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing
    12. 93* Matt DiBenedetto* BK Racing
    13. 83 Michael Waltrip BK Racing
    14. 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing
    15. 47 AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing
    16. 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports
    17. 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports
    18. 26* Robert Richardson Jr.* BK Racing
    19. 35* David Gilliland* Front Row Motorsports
    20. 40* Reed Sorenson* Hillman Smith Motorsports
    21. 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing
    22. 14 Brian Vickers Stewart-Haas Racing

     

     

  • Three Cars to the Rear for the Duels

    Three Cars to the Rear for the Duels

    Three cars fell afoul of the rules in qualifying.

    The two Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet’s of the No. 4 driven by Kevin Harvick and No. 14 driven by Brian Vickers failed post-qualifying tech inspection after the track bars were found to be out of compliance with the Sprint Cup Series rule book.

    Their times were disallowed and both teams will start from the rear in their respective Can-Am Duel race on Thursday night.

    According to Rodney Childers, crew chief of the No. 4 car, the track bar “ended up with 1/4″ too much rake.”

    He also took to Twitter “to apologize to @NASCAR @jimmyjohns and our fans. It was a simple mistake on our part and look fwd to racing Thursday night. Thx.”

    Martin Truex Jr.’s car was also taken off the qualifying line after officials took issue with the roof flap. He was unable to post a lap in qualifying, had his car impounded and will start from the rear of the field in his Duel race.

    “Thought we had a really good car with good speed in it,” Cole Pearn said. “Either way, we’ll move on and hopefully have a good rest of Speedweeks.”

  • Chase Elliott on the Pole for the Daytona 500

    Chase Elliott on the Pole for the Daytona 500

    It didn’t take long for Chase Elliott to find success in the top level of NASCAR.  The 2014 XFINITY Series champion and son of 1988 Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott scored his first career pole today with a time of 45.845 and a speed of 196.314 mph. He will lead the field to the green flag for next Sunday’s 58th running of the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. At 20 years, two months and 17 days, Elliott is the youngest Daytona 500 pole-sitter in NASCAR history.

    “This is a very very cool day…it’s nothing special I did,” Elliott said. “The Daytona 500 is about the team and the work they did in the off-season to make this happen.”

    He’ll be joined on the front row by Matt Kenseth who posted a time of 45.910 and a speed of 196.036 mph. The age difference between the two drivers on the front row is 23 years.

    Both drivers will lead the field to the green flag in their respective Duel races on Thursday night. Every driver outside the first two starters will have to race for their starting spot on Thursday.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five.

    Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards and Sprint Unlimited winner Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.

    Because Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto were the highest open teams, they can fall back on their speed should they not finish among the top-15 in their respective Duel races. That means, barring they fail tech inspection, they are locked into the Daytona 500. The other six open teams will have to race their way in via the Duel races.

    “It is nice to be locked into the race,” said Blaney. “The biggest relief for us is to know you are locked in and are good to be able to race in the 500. That kind of lets us go race on Thursday a little bit more than we would have instead of playing it conservative if we weren’t locked in. It is nice to have such a fast car and be locked into the race. It is a load off our shoulders for sure.”

    Martin Truex Jr. didn’t post a time in qualifying because series officials pulled his car off the grid for an issue with his roof flap. As a result, his car was impounded and he’ll start from the rear of the field in the second Duel race.

  • Rough Night for 6-Time

    Rough Night for 6-Time

    Speedweeks didn’t get off to a great start for one Jimmie Kenneth Johnson.

    After drawing the pole position for the Sprint Unlimited, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet hoped to start his quest for a third Daytona 500 victory with a strong performance in the 75-lap exhibition race. Those hopes were quickly dashed on lap 44.

    Hurdling down the backstretch, he made contact with Casey Mears and was sent spinning through the grass. As he got his car pointed in the right direction, the front nose dug into the ground and tore away from the car. All that was left was the radiator.

    He would finish the race in 22nd, 36 laps down.

    ‘I could see the hole closing up,” Johnson said. “I was trying to get out of it and I avoided from crashing the two guys that closed the door on me, but I got hit from behind and that’s what sent me down through the infield. I was just trying hard on one of those nights. I was certainly trying to see what I could get with and what I couldn’t by being aggressive, and we’re down. I was trying to back out of it. I don’t think the two guys I was trying to be in the middle of, knew that I was there and I could see the door closing. I was trying to back out of it. I did a decent job getting out of there and not spinning the No. 1 (McMurray) and the No. 13 (Mears) and I got hit from behind and that sent me down to the infield. It’s unfortunate because the hole was there and I had a good run coming up through the center but they just started closing the door on me.”

    “Gotta give you props right there Jimmie,” Chad Knaus said. “You’re a hell of a driver. Good dress rehearsal tonight, we learned a lot.”

    Johnson was not the only member of the Hendrick brigade to have trouble. Pre-race favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. was caught up in the lap 23 wreck in Turn 1. After cutting a tire, Brian Vicker’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet t-boned the right side of Earnhardt’s car and ripped it off. He was held on pit road for a number of laps until his crew used tape to create a makeshift car number on the right side. Going into Turn 3, Jamie McMurray was shoving Kasey Kahne down the backstretch. Kahne got loose and turned into the side of AJ Allmendinger. His night finally came to an end with 10 laps to go after his engine expired in Turn 2.

    Despite wrecking out, Johnson took to Twitter to say he was “good with tonight” and glad that he could “get the bad luck outta the way. Sorry about your cars .”

    He qualified sixth for the Daytona 500 and will start third in the second Duel race on Thursday.