Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Can-Am Duels at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Advertisement
McDowell’s transfer into the 500 was a big story, but as usual at Daytona after a Thursday duel, everyone was talking about another Earnhardt victory.
Earnhardt took the lead from pole-sitter and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on Lap 3 and proceeded to dominate the early part of the race. He did it by leading 43 of 60 laps to triumph by 0.183 seconds over a charging Joey Logano.
Among those who wrecked strong race cars were Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., who will all have to go to backup cars for the Daytona 500. “There’s a huge trust factor that we’ve had for a really long time, so this feels like a continuation of something that has been going on for a while”.
“I told you how much I like people remembering dad and talk about dad”, he said.
Earnhardt Sr. was on the final lap of the race when he crashed head on into the outside wall, it’s believed Earnhardt died instantly.
Michael McDowell and Josh Wise to duke it out for the other spot available from the first race.
It’s the third time in seven years that McDowell has raced his way into the 500. Whitt took his No. 98 to the garage and did not qualify for the Daytona 500. Whitt was running directly behind McDowell when he tried to complete a pass, but McDowell threw a block causing Whitt to lose control and spin out.
“We knew we were locked in before, but it’s nice to know we raced our way in”, Blaney said. Even with a fast line and plenty of cars moving forward, it’s likely they’ll stall out before being able to make a run at the leader.
It’s unclear the extent of all the damage and which drivers will be forced to their back-up cars, but all of it will be made clear during the Daytona 500 practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.
So, there was no drama Thursday night, right?
This year’s Daytona 500 will be held on Sunday.
Advertisement
Since Earnhardt’s death, numerous safety improvements in NASCAR have kept racing fatalities at zero. It used to be that the front was the last place a driver wanted to be in the closing laps on a restrictor-plate track, but that’s no longer the case. Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto guaranteed Daytona 500 starting positions through qualifying.
