Austin Cindric won the second Duel at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13, edging out Erik Jones by the thinnest of margins to score the victory (and the rights to the outside of the second row of the Daytona 500).
Jones made a late charge in the closing laps to position himself at the front and came across the finish line side by side with Cindric as the field wrecked behind them.
Meanwhile, open driver Corey LaJoie raced his Rick Ware Racing Ford into the Daytona 500 with a sixth-place finish.
As a result, Anthony Alfredo and BJ McLeod failed to qualify for Sunday’s (Feb. 16) race.
Initially it was thought that Jones had won the race as he parked his Toyota on the fronstretch, but after the finish was reviewed by NASCAR officials, it was determined that Cindric’s Team Penske Ford was ahead of Jones when the caution came out.
“I feel bad for Erik having to go all the way over there (to the frontstretch) but obviously they made a great move on the last lap”, Cindric told Fox Sports after the race. “Me and Joey were sitting ducks with the middle lane fading there. We had a really fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang… I’m super proud of my team and everyone to go out here and execute.”
Chris Buescher finished third behind Cindric and Jones, while Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek and Christopher Bell rounded out the top 10.
“You forget how special this race is when you have to race for it, you have to earn it”, LaJoie told Fox Sports after earning the final spot in the Daytona 500. “When you’re racing full time, it’s just the first one of 36, but when it’s the one that you think about for months, it means that much more.”
The first half of the race saw Toyota drivers Hamlin and Jones pace the field, with Jones’ open teammate Jimmie Johnson — already in the race by virtue of his qualifying speed — following close behind. However, Johnson had to make an unscheduled pit stop on lap 35 with an apparent fuel pump issue, putting Alfredo and Beard Motorsports into the final transfer position.
Following this, Trackhouse driver Daniel Suarez took control of the lead, as drivers positioned themselves for pit stops. During this pit cycle, Kyle Larson, Hamlin and Nemechek were caught speeding on pit road.
The green-flag pit cycle shuffled up the field and put the RFK and Penske Fords at the front of the field. However, the caution flew shortly thereafter, as leader Buescher threw a block on Cindric, causing the field to check up and resulting in a multi-car crash involving Suarez, Alex Bowman and Brad Keselowski. All three cars headed to the garage after the incident.
Buescher and Cindric then led the field back to green on lap 53, with open driver LaJoie now in the final transfer spot. In the closing laps, it looked all but certain that a Ford driver would win the race, but a late charge from Jones put him in position to score the victory, though he came up just short.
Daytona Duel 2 Results
The Daytona 500 is set for Sunday, Feb. 16, at 2:30 p.m. ET via FOX.
Jake Altmayer joined the Frontstretch team in 2025, assisting as a news writer and contributing to other weekly columns and articles, such as Friday Faceoff and Xfinity Breakdown. A 2024 graduate of DePaul University, Altmayer has closely followed NASCAR's national series (Cup, Xfinity and Trucks) for nearly a decade and has attended more than a dozen races over the course of that time. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, spending time with his loved ones, and listening to his favorite band, the Beach Boys.