By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Thursday’s Duels at Daytona International Speedway certainly brought the chaos as some drivers celebrated by either winning or making Sunday’s Daytona 500 while others face massive setbacks and four drivers will go home.
In the end, it was Bubba Wallace and Austin Cindric who took the checkered flag in their respective Duel races while Justin Allgaier and Corey LaJoie raced their way into the Daytona 500.
After torrential downpour prior to the event delaying the start of Race No. 1, the madness was just beginning as drivers endured problems before the green flag. Those being the likes of Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, and Ross Chastain, but all three were able to take part of the race without retiring.
Several incidents occurred throughout the first 60-lap race that saw guys such as Zane Smith, Chandler Smith and Helio Castroneves failing to finish the race. With the latter’s exit, it meant the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner will take the Open Exemption Provisional, expanding the field to 41 cars for Sunday’s 200-lap race.
Once the race fully settled in, it was Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota who stood out from the rest of the field and captured his first Duel victory of his career. Wallace did so by beating defending Daytona 500 winner by 0.082 seconds.
Above all, a sweet family experience occurred as his wife Amanda and their four-month-old son were in victory lane.
From there, it was “Simba Cam” in Florida as he lifted Becks on top of his shoulders. It allowed Wallace to reflect on the emotions throughout the night that led to a heartwarming moment.
“Having my family here with me. I started crying walking out to driver intros,” said Wallace. “When I walked under the Rolex banner, I was carrying him in my arms. I was like, ‘Why didn’t I have this experience at Bowman Gray, because it was my first race?’
“He wasn’t there with me. I wasn’t carrying him. I lost it walking out on pit road, and I was trying my best to cover it up a little bit,” Wallace continued.
“But he was surprisingly calm throughout the whole driver intros and the pre-race stuff, which means we’re going to be in hell tonight probably while he’s sleeping. While we’re trying to sleep, he’s going to be wide awake.
“Having him here and Amanda, you know, it’s been the best four months of our life. A lot of ups and downs, a lot of sleepless nights, but it’s moments like this before we can all celebrate together, which is really special. Having him in victory lane doing the old Lion King pose was really cool.”
In Race No. 2, it was the opposite of chaos at one point as the race went green for 48 laps before a multi-car crash took out the likes of Daniel Suarez, who led nine laps at one point.
Once the race resumed, it was a frenzy pack of competitors trying to either win the second 60-lap race or punch their ticket into the Daytona 500.
As the field were coming to the checkers, Erik Jones and Austin Cindric battled side-by-side for the win, but trouble happened further back. Several cars were collected in the tri-oval that resulted in guys like Shane Van Gisbergen, Cody Ware and Riley Herbst sustaining heavy damage that’ll cause tremendous setbacks heading into Sunday’s race.
For BJ McLeod and Anthony Alfredo, their visit to Daytona was over as they join JJ Yeley and Chandler Smith to the house.
While several hearts were broken, the caution came out just as Jones and Cindric were in a photo finish battle. Initially, it was Jones who beat Cindric by 0.004 seconds which would’ve marked the No. 43 car’s first Duel win since Richard Petty in 1976.
However, after NASCAR reviewed the finish, Cindric was declared the winner of the second Duel race. The former Daytona 500 winner had to walk to victory lane as his car was already in the pits before the outcome was reversed. Something Cindric felt real bad about Jones having to go through.
“I feel bad for Erik having to go all the way over there. They made a great move on the last lap there. Joey (Logano) and I were sitting ducks with the middle lane fading there,” Cindric explained.
“We had really fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang. Super proud of my team and everyone to go out here and execute.
“Overall, proud of everybody at Team Penske getting lined up there, the execution of the cycle there. It’s cool, but there’s still a lot to go for the race. I feel so bad he had to drive all the way over there. That’s terrible.”
A dejected Jones saw the replay of the finish and understood that rules are rules when it comes to the caution coming out.
“A wide range of emotions. It’s a bummer. It’s the rule. If the yellow is out, the race is over and it’s unfortunate but either way I feel like the Advent Camry was really fast,” said Jones. “It was fun running upfront, fun leading some laps, fun contending for the win. I did everything I could. It just didn’t work out and hopefully we can be in that same spot again on Sunday.”
The 41-car field is set as the field will have two practice sessions before the 67th Daytona 500 commences Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. William Byron is the defending race winner.
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