Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon Win Daytona 500 Qualifying Races

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – RIS – Aric Almirola won the third starting position for Sunday’s Blue Green Vacations Duel qualifying race.  Almirola held off a charge from Joey Logano thanks to a push from Christopher Bell to win the first Duel qualifying race on Thursday night. Almirola had control of the race for the final laps, but it was only a matter of time before Logano made a move from second.

He made that move entering the final two corners. But Almirola was able to use the side draft to slow Logano and got a push from Bell -- who had pushed Logano to the potential race-winning pass -- to get to the finish line first.

Ryan Preece was the highest-finishing non-charter car in the race. Since he automatically qualified for Sunday's race on Wednesday night in front row qualifying, his move around Ty Dillon on the final lap put Austin Cindric into the Daytona 500. Ty Dillon and Timmy Hill will not race on Sunday.

Alex Bowman’s engine problems may benefit Almirola.  Bowman had the problem and had to retire his car.  Since he won the pole, he can keep the starting position provided the engine can be repaired.  If he has to change to a new engine, he will have to move to the back of the field, putting Almirola car on the front row.  At press time, no word on that situation has been released.

The second duel qualifying race was delayed by rain at the end of the first race and didn’t get started until after the 11:00 hour, a two hour and 45 minutes later.

Despite the long delay, Austin Dillon put the No. 3 Chevy back in Daytona Victory Lane in the second Duel, passing Bubba Wallace's No. 23 Toyota in dramatic fashion as the two came to the checkered flag.

Wallace passed Truex Jr. midway through the final lap, only to have Dillon put a crossover move on Wallace coming out of Turn 4 to take the win.

Shortly after racing resumed, Chase Briscoe, driving the No. 14 Ford, appeared to blow a tire on the backstretch with 25 to go in Duel No. 2, causing a multi-car pileup and bringing out the first caution of the night.  After pit-stops, Ryan Blaney was first off pit-road, and was posted as the leader. Kevin Harvick and William Byron into Turn 1 when the green flag waves. Byron started on the pole and had led most of the race.

As the race came down to the finish, Garrett Smithley got into Brad Keselowski going into Turn 1 with 5 to go, causing a massive pileup that included Daytona 500 front-row starter William Byron. Byron was set to start second on Sunday but will most likely have to go to a backup car, therefore losing his starting spot. Martin Truex Jr. led as the race headed to overtime.

In overtime, Austin Dillon put the No. 3 Chevy back in Daytona Victory Lane in the second Duel, passing Bubba Wallace's No. 23 Toyota in dramatic fashion as the two came to the checkered flag. Wallace passed Truex Jr. midway through the final lap, only to have Dillon put a crossover move on Wallace coming out of Turn 4 to take the win.

 Duel One Finish:

Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 Results, February 11, 2021, Daytona International Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led
1) 2, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 60, 10, Running, 4, 52
2) 4, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota, 60, 9, Running, 2, 3
3) 12, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford, 60, 8, Running, ,
4) 11, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 60, 7, Running, ,
5) 5, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Cottonelle Chevrolet, 60, 6, Running, ,
6) 17, * Ty Dillon(i), No. 96 Bass Pro Shops/Black Rifle Coffee Toyota, 60, 0, Running, ,
7) 8, Kyle Larson, No. 5 Nations Guard Chevrolet, 60, 4, Running, ,
8) 6, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 iFly Chevrolet, 60, 3, Running, 1, 2
9) 14, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 60, 2, Running, ,
10) 18, Jamie McMurray, No. 77 AdventHealth Chevrolet, 60, 1, Running, ,
11) 3, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet, 60, 0, Running, ,
12) 9, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 60, 0, Running, ,
13) 7, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Toyota, 60, 0, Running, 1, 1
14) 13, Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 60, 0, Running, ,
15) 16, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet, 60, 0, Running, 1, 2
16) 10, * Austin Cindric(i), No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford, 59, 0, Running, ,
17) 15, Erik Jones, No. 43 Armor All Chevrolet, 59, 0, Running, ,
18) 19, Quin Houff, No. 00 Mane 'n Tail Chevrolet, 58, 0, Running, ,
19) 20, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 VSI Racing Ford, 57, 0, Running, ,
20) 1, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 56, 0, Running, ,
21) 21, Cody Ware, No. 51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 56, 0, Running, ,
22) 22, Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Wisconsin Lighting Lab Ford, 14, 0, Overheating, ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (*) Non-Charter team

Time of Race: 46 Min, 53 Sec
Total Race Length: 60 Laps - 150. Miles
Average Speed: 191.966 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.041 Seconds

Race Comments: Aric Almirola won the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway, his first victory in the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying races. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicles dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #8 (unapproved adjustments/transmission change).

Caution Flags: None

Lead Changes: 9 among 5 drivers;
A. Bowman 0;
A. Almirola 1-2;
D. Suarez 3-4;
C. Bell 5;
A. Almirola 6;
C. Bell 7-8;
A. Almirola 9-33;
D. Hamlin 34;
T. Reddick 35-36;
A. Almirola 37-60.

Duel 2 finish:

Results: Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2, February 11, 2021, Daytona International Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts, Status, Tms Led, Laps Led
1) 4, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 63, 10, Running, 2, 2
2) 2, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 DoorDash Toyota, 63, 9, Running, 2, 3
3) 3, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light #TheCrew Ford, 63, 8, Running, 4, 11
4) 8, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 63, 7, Running, ,
5) 5, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 63, 6, Running, ,
6) 9, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Blue DEF/PEAK Ford, 63, 5, Running, 1, 4
7) 17, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Youtheory Chevrolet, 63, 4, Running, ,
8) 6, * David Ragan, No. 36 Select Blinds Ford, 63, 3, Running, ,
9) 7, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 63, 2, Running, ,
10) 15, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 63, 1, Running, ,
11) 13, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 63, 0, Running, ,
12) 14, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 63, 0, Running, 2, 9
13) 20, Joey Gase, No. 53 Page Construction Ford, 63, 0, Running, ,
14) 10, * Kaz Grala, No. 16 Hyper Ice Chevrolet, 63, 0, Running, ,
15) 11, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 61, 0, Running, ,
16) 18, * Garrett Smithley(i), No. 13 Trophy Tractor Ford, 61, 0, Running, ,
17) 21, Derrike Cope, No. 15 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 59, 0, Running, ,
18) 22, * Noah Gragson(i), No. 62 Beard Motorsports/South Point Chevrolet, 56, 0, Accident, ,
19) 1, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 56, 0, Accident, 3, 34
20) 12, Ross Chastain, No. 42 Clover Chevrolet, 56, 0, Accident, ,
21) 16, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford, 35, 0, Accident, ,
22) 19, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 NASCAR Heats Ford, 35, 0, Accident, ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (*) non-franchise team

Time of Race: 0 Hrs, 59 Mins, 47 Sec
Race Length: 63 Laps, 157.5 Miles
Average Speed: 158.071 MPH
Margin of Victory: .057 Seconds

Race Comments: Austin Dillon won the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 at Daytona International Speedway. His first victory in the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying races at Daytona.

Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicles dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 53 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 2 for 8 laps;
Laps: 37-40 (16, 38, 14, 13, 78 Incident Turn 2 [None]);
58-61 (#13, 24, 42, 62, 2 Incident Frontstretch [16]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 6 drivers:
B. Wallace 1;
W. Byron 2-11;
K. Harvick 12-15;
B. Wallace 16-17;
K. Harvick 18;
W. Byron 19-32;
A. Dillon 33;
K. Harvick 34-37;
R. Blaney 38-41;
W. Byron 42-51;
M. Truex Jr. 52-53;
K. Harvick 54-55;
M. Truex Jr. 56-62;
A. Dillon 63.