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Full results of Duels at Daytona to determine Daytona 500 starting lineup

We get you caught up with all the action from Daytona International Speedway and the Duel 125s to set the field for the Great American Race.

12:53 a.m. With plenty of cars torn up, this grid likely won’t hold, but as of now here’s the full grid for the 2021 Daytona 500. But it seems like both drivers scheduled to be on the front row, Richard Childress Racing teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron, might both be in the back of the field instead. Bowman’s power issues might be enough where he’s forced to replace his engine and start in the back by rule, and Byron’s car got pretty torn up with four to go in Duel 2.

Austin Cindric and Kaz Grala join Ryan Preece and David Ragan as the non-chartered drivers in the race.

12:24 a.m. What a move by Austin Dillon on the last lap, who goes under Bubba Wallace attempting to block in the last straightaway, and he takes the Twin.

Bubba got a tremendous push from Kyle Busch underneath, and Kevin Harvick gave to Dillon on the high side, but it forced Wallace to try and block which just left him exposed. Nothing he could do.

12:22 a.m. We’re going green-white-checker in NASCAR Overtime to finish it. It’s Truex Jr, Wallace, Kyle Busch, Dillon, and Kurt Busch as they take the green.

12:13 a.m. Weird racing after midnight, and we got a big one in a little race! Garrett Smithley comes down off the high line, Brad Keselowski was coming up, and they met in the middle of the infield.

About eight cars are involved, but five appear to be done, including William Byron who was set to be on the outside pole. He’ll likely have to replace his car before the race, so now he’ll start in the back of the field. Ross Chastain is done, Noah Gregson is done, so that means it looks likely Kaz Grala will be in the Daytona 500 as a non-chartered driver as well.

11:57 p.m. Anthony Alfredo has waved the white flag and is behind the wall. The rookie will be at the back of the field on Saturday likely in 38th position. B.J. McLeod was out earlier.

Will be 20 to go and everyone will have fuel when we the green flag drops again.

11:55 p.m. Just ahead of the pit window on Lap 36, we’ve got a wreck! Chase Briscoe either got loose on the high line in two wide, and he slid towards the infield taking Kaz Grala, Anthony Alfredo, and Garrett Smithley with him.

Grala and Smithley are two of the cars trying to transfer in to the race. The third attempting to find a spot, Noah Gregson, is currently in the middle of a long pit stop. It’s going to be whomever survives to get the last spot in the field for the Great American Race.

Harvick, Byron, Blaney, Keselowski, and Truex Jr. come out of the pits 1-2-3-4-5 under caution.

11:15 p.m. We are back. The green flag drops on the (eventually) dry race track and we are under way!

8:50 p.m. We are in a rain delay at Daytona, and it looks like it might not be subsiding soon. We’ll holler once we’re back on the surface, but it does look like they’ll get the race in this evening despite the weather.

8:25 p.m. We now know half the grid for the 2021 Daytona 500. Here it is in order:

1 Alex Bowman
3 Aric Almirola
5 Christopher Bell
7 Ryan Newman
9 Joey Logano
11 Ryan Preece
13 Kyle Larson
15 Daniel Suarez
17 Michael McDowell
19 Jamie McMurray
21 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
23 Matt DiBenedetto
25 Denny Hamlin
27 Cole Custer
29 Tyler Reddick
31 Austin Cindric
33 Erik Jones
35 Quin Houff
37 Cody Ware
39 Josh Bilicki

8:07 p.m. Aric Almirola takes Duel 1! He actually got passed by Joey Logano on the last lap, but a push from the #20 of Christopher Bell got him back in the lead just ahead of the tri-oval, and he flew across the line first for the checkered flag. The driver from Hillsborough High School in Tampa becomes another winner for Tampa Bay this year.

Austin Cindric, despite taking a pit penalty, will end up in the field. While Ryan Preece was the highest-finishing non-chartered driver, he was already qualified from last night’s pole qualifying, therefore Cindric advances to the 500.

7:57 p.m. Good news for Bowman is he’s back on the track even though he’s basically in testing mode right now.

The bad news is Duel 2 looks like it very possibly will be delayed due to weather.

7:45 p.m. Bad news for pole sitter Alex Bowman: He’s blown his engine, and by rule he can’t replace it after this race. His team can work on the car, but they can’t take it out. If it’s totally blown, he won’t be on the grid for the Daytona 500 after winning the pole. Yikes.


It’s just four days until the Super Bowl of stock car racing, and tonight we’ll set the field for the Daytona 500 with a pair of 60 lap races that will determine who are the 40 drivers and where they’ll start.

Alex Bowman will be on the pole on Sunday, and his teammate William Byron will be on the outside of Row 1. But the rest of the field will be determined by the order of finish in tonight’s two races. There are 44 total competitors, and 38 of them know they’re in the field: 36 by the charter system, and two got in on time via pole qualifying, Ryan Preece and David Ragan.

Only one of Austin Cindric, Ty Dillon, and Timmy Hill will advance in Duel 1, and Kaz Grala, Garrett Smithley, and Noah Gragson are fighting for a single spot in Duel 2.

Boogity Boogity Boogity!!

Duel 1

Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 starting lineup

Order Driver/ Car # Team
Order Driver/ Car # Team
1 Alex Bowman No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2 Aric Almirola No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
3 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
4 Christopher Bell No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5 Ryan Preece No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
6 Daniel Suarez No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet
7 Denny Hamlin No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
8 Kyle Larson No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
9 Matt DiBenedetto No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
10 Austin Cindric* No. 33 Team Penske Ford
11 Joey Logano No. 22 Team Penske Ford
12 Ryan Newman No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
13 Cole Custer No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
14 Michael McDowell No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
15 Erik Jones No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
16 Tyler Reddick No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
17 Ty Dillon* No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
18 Jamie McMurray No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
19 Quin Houff No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet
20 Timmy Hill* No. 66 Motorsports Business Management Ford
21 Cody Ware No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
22 Josh Bilicki No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Ford

Duel 2

Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2 starting lineup

Order Driver/ Car # Team
Order Driver/ Car # Team
1 William Byron No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2 Bubba Wallace No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
3 Kevin Harvick No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
4 Austin Dillon No. 3 Richard Childress Racing
5 Chase Elliott No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 David Ragan No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford
7 Kurt Busch No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
8 Kyle Busch No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
9 Ryan Blaney No. 12 Team Penske Ford
10 Kaz Grala* No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
11 Chase Briscoe No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
12 Ross Chastain No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
13 Brad Keselowski No. 2 Team Penske Ford
14 Martin Truex Jr. No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
15 Chris Buescher No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
16 Anthony Alfredo No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
17 Corey LaJoie No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
18 Garrett Smithley* No. 13 Motorsports Business Management Ford
19 BJ McLeod No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford
20 Joey Gase No. 53 Rick Ware Racing Ford
21 Derrike Cope No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
22 Noah Gragson* No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet