NASCAR: Bubba Wallace wins first Daytona Duel qualifying race as Austin Cindric wins the second

Bubba Wallace will start third in the Daytona 500 on Sunday

Wallace won the first Duel qualifying race ahead of William Byron and Ty Dillon. He had a fast car for much of the race and was able to control the lead at the front for the final laps.

“I’ve wanted one of these Duel wins for so long, all my buddies have got them,” Wallace said after the race.

Justin Allgaier finished ninth to qualify for the race for car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. It’s the first time a car owned by Junior’s JR Motorsports team will compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race. The team is a stalwart in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series.

Wallace is the No. 11 favorite at BetMGM (+2500) to win the Daytona 500. He has five top-five finishes in 15 starts at Daytona and has finished in the top five of the Daytona 500 in two of the past three seasons. Wallace was second in 2022 and finished fifth in 2024.

Chase Briscoe won the pole for Sunday’s race during Wednesday’s front row qualifying session. He lingered at the back of the pack before retiring the car out of precaution due to a potential debris strike. If Briscoe’s team had to go to a backup car, he’d have to relinquish his No. 1 starting spot.

Helio Castroneves will be the 41st car in the Daytona 500 because of a new NASCAR provisional rule that granted him an automatic berth into the race. The four-time Indianapolis 500 champion was involved in a wreck when Chandler Smith — also racing for a spot in the Daytona 500 — tried to cut in front of Justin Haley in the top five. Smith had no room and took out Haley, Castroneves and others.

Castroneves kept going down the backstretch after the wreck and his car crashed again when he clipped the apron.

Thanks to NASCAR’s charter rules 36 full-time teams are automatically in the race. That left nine cars for the four remaining spots in the field outside of Castroneves’ provisional. Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson took two of those four spots on Wednesday night by virtue of their qualifying speeds, leaving one spot available in each Duel race.

Austin Cindric wins Duel 2

Austin Cindric won the second Duel race as he was just ahead of Erik Jones on the final lap when a caution flew for a crash in the middle of the pack.

Cindric and Jones were side-by-side for the win and Jones crossed the finish line first. But the caution came out before the cars got to the finish line.

Jones parked his car on the frontstretch after the race in the hope that he was the winner. But Cindric’s car was clearly ahead when the caution came out.

Cindric was already set to start second in the 500 thanks to his qualifying speed on Wednesday. Jones will start fourth.

Corey LaJoie was the highest-finishing open driver and took the final spot in the 500. He beat Anthony Alfredo and BJ McLeod to make the race.