Joey Logano ended up in Victory Lane in Thursday’s America 250 Florida Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway, but more than likely, it’s going to be a last-lap bonzai move from Casey Mears that will steal the headlines.
The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was able to use a push from his teammate Ryan Blaney to get himself out ahead of the RFK Racing brigade in the final laps of the 150-mile qualifying race, putting his car in the wind.
It’s the fourth Daytona Duel victory for Joey Logano. Now, the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse will start on the inside of the second row, just behind polesitter Kyle Busch.
“Just a lot of teamwork all the way through,” said Logano post-race. “I think about the No. 22 team in particular. Nick Hensley, our gas man, did a fantastic job getting us in position out of pit road. Coleman Pressley up on the roof, giving us great information. My teammate Ryan Blaney being committed and working together. It’s nice when everything works out the way it’s supposed to.”
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Logano ended up pacing the field for the final 13 laps of the 63-lap contest, which included multiple cautions for on-track incidents, all of which ended up including drivers attempting to race their way into the DAYTONA 500.
With 13 laps remaining in regulation, Lap 47, as the Ford Racing drivers attempted to make their green-flag pit stops, Casey Mears missed his braking point and spun around entering pit road, making contact with Noah Gragson, who had been running at the rear of the pack after sustaining a penalty in qualifying for sticking his hand out the window.
Mears found himself stuck in the infield grass and lost a lap, making his journey to making the DAYTONA 500 much more difficult, but apparently, not impossible. Just after the restart, the intensity ramped up, and another wreck broke out, which again changed the complexion of things.
Chandler Smith, looking to qualify for his first DAYTONA 500 with Front Row Motorsports, had succeeded in getting alongside the RFK Racing grouping and battling with Corey LaJoie, when a wreck broke out at the front of the pack between Bubba Wallace and Austin Dillon, which ended up collecting the No. 36 Ford Mustang.
NASCAR Overtime ended up biting Corey LaJoie, who held the transfer spot for the majority of the 60 laps of regulation, when Daniel Suarez got a huge surge down the backstretch on the final lap and made an awry push, turning the No. 99 Trimble Ford into the outside wall.
Casey Mears wasn’t in the lead pack on the final lap, and as the cars crashed in front of him, the Bakersfield, California-native floored it to get through the carnage, and although he ended up making significant contact with Daniel Suarez, he got through with the transfer position, putting himself in the DAYTONA 500.
“Probably a little bit of power of prayer. There’s a lot of that going on in the car. Just couldn’t thank everybody enough for getting us here to begin with. Yeah, I had an issue on pit road. I got a runner around the outside,” Mears said.
“I figured I’d stay on the gas no matter what happened. When I saw him spinning, and I missed the first guy, I thought okay, good. Then I hit — was it the 9 I hit square? Anyway, I hit somebody square. And I knew when I hit him flat, it didn’t tear up the car too much, and I was going to be able to get back. But I didn’t know who was in front of me, whether or not we made it. All the guys started going nuts on the radio.”
When NASCAR sorted out the finishing order, Ryan Blaney was credited with second-place, with Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, and John Hunter Nemechek rounding out the top-five. Shane Van Gisbergen, Daniel Suarez, Casey Mears, Ryan Preece, and Alex Bowman completed the top-10.
William Byron and Chris Buescher retired from the event due to a late-race accident. Byron, the winner of the last two DAYTONA 500s, will go to a backup car and start at the rear of the field.
