Joey Logano beat Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney under caution in NASCAR overtime to win the first race of Speedweeks, the America 250 Florida Duel 1, at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Logano’s No. 22 Ford edged ahead of Blaney before Corey LaJoie, who restarted fourth and was in position to make the Daytona 500 field, wrecked on the backstretch to allow Casey Mears to roar past LaJoie’s No. 99 Ford from outside the top 10 and make the Great American Race.
Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek and Brad Keselowski completed the top five.
Kyle Busch started the 60-lapper from the pole and led the 23-car field to green, but Ryan Preece, last Wednesday’s winner of The Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, was first to the checkers on Lap 1.
Dillon, the 2018 Daytona 500 winner, found his way to the front, but the Fords of Blaney and Logano were soon in the mix.
However, the blue ovals belonging to RFK Racing — Preece, Chris Buescher, LaJoie and Keselowski — teamed up in the low line to take the first four positions on Lap 11.
One of the open drivers attempting to make Sunday’s field, Chandler Smith, moved his No. 36 Ford into seventh on Lap 33 as he needed to finish in front of LaJoie and Mears to start in the 500.
On Lap 39, the field turned its fastest lap with three-wide racing as the teams prepared to make their lone pit stop.
With all of the top nine cars sporting the Ford logo except Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet and Nemechek’s No. 42 Toyota, the excitement began with 16 laps remaining as Mears and Noah Gragson spun together into the infield grass while coming to pit road.
That first caution allowed the first group who pitted to restart up front, and Logano led Blaney with six to go as the racing picked up. Busch fell to the back to protect his pole position for Sunday.
However, after Bubba Wallace, last year’s Duel 1 winner, passed Logano for the top spot with five to go, Dillon spun him entering Turn 3. Buescher, Smith and two-time defending 500 winner William Byron then wrecked together on the high side to set up overtime.
–Field Level Media
