Chase Elliott took the lead on Lap 53, held off a charge from Carson Hocevar, and claimed the checkers in the America 250 Florida Duel 2 at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The 2020 Cup Series champion, Elliott grabbed the point on Lap 53 and earned his third qualifying victory at the 2.5-mile World Center of Racing. He also won duels in 2017 and 2018.
Elliott, who led nine laps in the caution-free race, topped Hocevar’s No. 77 Chevrolet by 0.065 seconds.
“It’s a great way to get the blood pumping for sure on a Thursday night,” said Elliott, who will start fourth in Sunday’s race. “There was a lot going on, especially after coming off pit road (under green) after the cycle. We were getting after it, and it was a lot of fun. … Carson did a great job helping me control those lanes and helping Team Chevy get to Victory Lane tonight.”
Defending series champ Kyle Larson was third followed by Michael McDowell and No. 20 Toyota driver Christopher Bell as Chevrolet swept the top four spots.
When Elliott crossed the finish line, the only question remaining would be who among the drivers without a guaranteed spot in the race would transfer into the final available spot in the 500.
Anthony Alfredo finished 18th and earned that starting spot, beating BJ McLeod by one position. However, postrace inspection of Alfredo’s No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet found a transmission transaxle cooling hose was disconnected, a rules violation. NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran said that because the violation happened during qualifying and not an official race, the penalty cannot be appealed.
“First of all, unfortunate to be here,” Moran said. “Any small open team we don’t like to have these problems, but we do have to do our job, make sure there’s parity amongst the field and also parity amongst people trying to make the 500.
“We have many rules, as you all know, that no parts can fall off the car for obvious reasons. We don’t say what the intent is, but these parts have to be fastened properly. Unfortunately, this one piece wasn’t on the right side. There was also another hose disconnected for driving cooling, which affects airflow.”
McLeod, 42, is co-owner of the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet that he will drive Sunday. This will be his sixth Daytona 500 start and first since 2023. His best career finish in the race is 19th.
Following Joey Logano’s victory in the first 60-lap qualifying race, Chase Briscoe started the second duel from the point and pulled away with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin lined up behind him and the rest of the field mostly running two-by-two.
The two Toyotas stayed up front, nose to tail, for the first 21 laps, but Ty Dillon’s No. 10 Chevrolet jumped up to second to break up the JGR run.
Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Larson raced side-by-side in the third row in third and fourth for the first 20 laps as the front of the field did not force the action.
At the race’s halfway, little had changed in the top five as Briscoe, Hamlin, Elliott, Dillon and Larson set the top five, but pit stops still lurked ahead with 30 to go.
With 25 circuits left, Hamlin slipped back to fifth while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hopped up in the high line in his No. 47 Chevrolet and pushed Dillon’s bowtie.
The Chevrolets made the move with 20 to go, grabbing the lead from Briscoe’s No. 19 and bringing McDowell’s No. 71 Chevy along. Connor Zilisch moved up to fourth as pit stops loomed with 17 laps remaining.
Briscoe, Hamlin, Elliott and Erik Jones pitted first with 16 laps left, but Briscoe, who led a race-high 38 laps, came out last because he stopped short of his pit box and had to re-fire his Toyota.
Tyler Reddick and Hocevar found themselves out front after pit work, with Hamlin, McDowell and Elliott in the mix as well as the intensity picked up with just 10 laps to go.
–Field Level Media
