Pony Up: Mustangs dominate the Duels
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Hendrick Chevrolets dominated qualifying last Sunday, but it was a Ford Performance show in the Gander RV Duels.
Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano secured the second row for the Daytona 500.
Harvick led the final 44 of 60 laps en route to the first Gander RV Duel 1 win—his second career victory in a Daytona 500 qualifying race.
Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer dominated the second Duel. He led 41 laps. But with a push from teammate Ryan Blaney, Logano went low on the last lap to win the second qualifier.
DUEL 1
Not only did Harvick secure the third starting position for the Great American Race, he earned 10 championship points in the process.
“The strategy tonight worked out well,” Harvick said. “We got onto pit road well, put gas in the car well. They were able to get us the lead. Our cars have been fast. We just didn't have the track position last Sunday. Got the track position tonight, towed the train around there.
The Fords of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Paul Menard finished second and third, respectively. Matt DiBenedetto, making his debut in the No. 95 Leavine Family Toyota finished fourth followed by Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman and Ryan Preece.
Preece salvaged a solid finish after being busted for speeding during pit stops on Lap 15. Matt Tifft and Brad Keselowski weren’t as lucky.
Tifft and Keselowski had multiple pit road infractions. In addition to speeding twice, Tifft’s pit crew came over the wall too soon on Lap 28. After serving pass-thru and stop-and-go penalties, the No. 36 Ford was forced to drop to the tail end of the field on Lap 29. He finished 19th.
The rookie’s mistakes were understandable. Not so much for Keselowski who pitted outside of his pit box, then misunderstood the directive from NASCAR to serve a one-lap penalty. Instead, the No. 2 Ford made a stop-and-go, only to have to return to the pits. Keselowski picked up a speeding penalty on Lap 28 and was sent to the rear of the field—the position he already occupied, two laps down. Keselowski finished 20th.
The only incident in the first Duel involved Johnson on Lap 26. He hit the left rear quarter panel of Kyle Busch’s car on the backstretch. Busch went for s pin on the apron before finishing 18th, one lap down.
“I just got it wrong, clearly,” Johnson said of the contact with Busch. “We were three wide and I just kind of misjudged that situation trying to tuck in behind Kyle. Sincere apologies to he and his team.”
With an assist from Busch, Parker Kligerman moved by Tyler Reddick to advance from the first race to advance to the Daytona 500.
“A year ago I watched this race,” Kligerman said. “I felt like I'd probably never get a chance to be in this race again. Fast forward a couple weeks ago, I'm doing pit reporting, doing the Daytona 24 Hour. Now I'm sitting up here now talking to you guys as a guy that just made the Daytona 500.
“It means the world to me. This is a pretty cool deal.”
DUEL 2
Logano, the defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion, waited for the right opportunity to win his first-career Daytona 500 qualifier.
“You have the whole race to think about making a move and we were all out there just waiting,” said Logano, who led just one lap. “Everyone behind me really wanted to go and I just knew that I had to wait. The later you can do it, the less the risk if it doesn't work. I got a good run from the 12 behind me and went to the bottom and got a good run.
“Was able to side draft the 10 and pull him back and just barely get enough to break that plane in front of the 14 and clear him up. From there I was just blocking to the finish like. My spotter TJ did a great job feeding me all the information I needed to make a decision. We had a really fast Shell Pennzoil Mustang. It is cool to see a couple Mustangs in victory lane already. I hope it continues for the big race on Sunday. Great start for our race team. Off we go.”
Bowyer held on for second-place followed by Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Blaney, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon.
The second qualifier was fairly lackluster until the final lap. Erik Jones was the only notable driver who received a speeding penalty on Lap 12 when he pit with eight other cars. He finished 14th, one lap down.
While Elliott was able to pull out of line and advanced his position to sixth in the last 20 laps, the third time attempting the move was not a charm for the Hendrick driver who lost two positions. For all intent and purposes, despite pit stops, the event was a single-file parade until Logano made his move on the last lap.
Unlike Harvick, who had and assurance from Stenhouse to stay in line, Bowyer was a sitting duck with Hamlin in tow and the Team Penske duo behind the No. 11.
“I guess I could have gone down there and blocked a little bit but when you are leading the train like you can’t see the runs that are coming behind you,” Bowyer said. “All you can do is hear your spotter telling you that they are coming but I can’t tell if he pulls out how fast they are coming or anything else. They came with a big run and by the time he got to me, I could have gone down there and blocked it and gotten myself wrecked.
“It was just one of those things. I thought we would still be able to connect and get back up through ‘em. It is what it is. We will start up front for the 500 which is the goal and the car is still in one piece.”
Brendan Gaughan, who stayed out during pit stops to lead seven laps in the No. 62 Beard Oil Chevy, was the second driver sans charter to advance on Thursday.
“I always come off as a class clown, but I haven’t been that nervous in a long time getting behind the wheel of a race car,” said Gaughan, who finished 15th. “The Beard (family put so much into this and we come here to run very well; not run like that. You’ve got to have discretion of valor you’ve got to make do with what you have to make do with. I had to change strategies on the fly.
“Darren Shaw, my crew chief, and Ron Lewis, my spotter did a great job. Thank you, Corey LaJoie. He just kind of stuck right in there with us on that pit stop and that’s what got us in this position; so, thank you, guys. We’ll see you at the Daytona 500.”
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