Joey Logano and Chase Elliott were victorious in a tale of two America 250 Florida Duel races that saw Casey Mears and BJ McLeod lock into the Daytona 500 in the Thursday night races at Daytona International Speedway.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Joey Logano and Chase Elliott were victorious in a tale of two America 250 Florida Duel races Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Elliott claimed victory in the second Duel race that stood in sharp contrast to the chaotic first Duel race Logano won.
Logano took control from outside pole sitter Ryan Preece who lead 38 of the first 44 laps before a bad pit stop kicked him back after a caution for Casey Mears making a mistake entering pit road and crashing into Noah Gragson.
Mears wasn't done. After using the hydraulic system to get his car unstuck from the grass, he drove away and lined up with everyone else.
Up front, RFK Racing still had control of the transfer spot for Corey LaJoie -- up until overtime when a bad bump sent LaJoie into the wall and out of the Daytona 500.
Taking his spot was Casey Mears, who gassed up through the wreck and made the field on a miracle for Garage 66.
Meanwhile, Joey Logano held on for his fourth Duel win -- all in the last eight Duel races, including Thursday's Duel that stood as an appetizer for Sunday's entree race.
"There's definitely some things I want to work on, no doubt. It's always like that. I do think we have a strong race car. It's a fast race car obviously. We proved that tonight. That's a good piece. We have to have speed. We'll work on some handling pieces, but I feel like we're pretty close," Logano said.
The second Duel race started as a near-mirror of the first race with one driver from the front row -- Chase Briscoe -- leading 38 laps before losing control on pit road.
However, the second Duel stayed green.
When pit stops cycled around, Chase Elliott cycled out to the lead with Carson Hocevar in steady tow that never relented all the way to the checkered flag. Elliott won the Duel, picking up 10 points, and Hocevar finished second, picking up nine points.
"It was a great way to get the blood pumping on a Thursday night. Ever since we pitted, we were getting after it. Thank you to Carson for helping us manage the lanes and get Chevrolet to victory lane. I appreciate him," Chase Elliott said.
Elliott will have extra OEM help, but not from Anthony Alfredo, who initially made the Daytona 500 for Beard Motorsports after missing the race in 2025. His car failed post-race inspection, putting BJ McLeod in the 500.
Alfredo made the Daytona 500 in 2024 with Beard Motorsports and was locked into the race with Front Row Motorsports in 2021. He is racing full-time for Viking Motorsports this season in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Chandler Smith, J.J. Yeley, Anthony Alfredo and Corey LaJoie failed to make the Daytona 500. Here is the starting lineup for the race:
- Kyle Busch
- Chase Briscoe
- Joey Logano
- Chase Elliott
- Ryan Blaney
- Carson Hocevar
- Austin Dillon
- Kyle Larson
- Brad Keselowski
- Michael McDowell
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Christopher Bell
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Josh Berry
- Daniel Suarez
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Casey Mears
- Todd Gilliland
- Ryan Preece
- Ty Gibbs
- Alex Bowman
- Denny Hamlin
- Cole Custer
- Erik Jones
- Noah Gragson
- Tyler Reddick
- Bubba Wallace
- Riley Herbst
- Corey Heim
- Zane Smith
- Jimmie Johnson
- Connor Zilisch
- Cody Ware
- Ty Dillon
- A.J. Allmendinger
- Austin Cindric
- Ross Chastain
- Justin Allgaier
- William Byron
- BJ McLeod
- Chris Buescher
The 68th annual Daytona 500 will go green Sunday, Feb. 15, with pre-race ceremonies starting just after 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and Motor Racing Network affiliates.