There probably weren’t a lot of people that entered Daytona thinking RFK Racing was going to sweep both of Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duels, but low and behold, here we are.
After the team’s co-owner, Brad Keselowski, made an impressive pass on Ryan Blaney with four to go in Duel 1, Chris Buescher waited a little longer, making his move exiting turn two on the final lap, while lapping David Ragan.
What happened next, was what many drivers and teams had been concerned about throughout the entire week, as Logano’s No. 22 was turned around into the outside wall, sustaining major damage, and causing damage to Harrison Burton’s No. 21.
Video: Joey Logano Makes Aggressive Last-Lap Block on Chris Buescher, Crashes into Outside Wall
Buescher was ultimately declared the winner, with Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell finishing in the runner-up position. Harrison Burton, despite the damage, was credited with third-place.
Finishing more than 20 seconds behind the leaders, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell rounded out the top-five. Martin Truex Jr, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Joey Logano, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-10.
With a 13th-place finish in Duel #2, NY Racing Team and Greg Biffle secured their spot in ‘The Great American Race’ quite easily, after Jacques Villeneuve suffered throttle linkage issues, and Timmy Hill seemed off the pace throughout the entire evening.
On the race’s one green-flag pit stop, three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin got on the brakes too hard entering pit road, spinning his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry around at pit-in. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver would go on to finish 15th in the event, one lap down.
Video: Denny Hamlin Goes For a Spin Entering Pit Road With Under 30 to Go in Duel
With both 60-lap duel races complete, the starting lineup for the 2022 Daytona 500 has been set, with Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman maintaining their position on the front row. Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher will share row two.
