Shane van Gisbergen (circled) escaped a last lap crash during the first Duel and Daytona.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano won the first of two Duels ahead of teammate Ryan Blaney.
The chaos began when Daniel Suarez in the #7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro got into the back of the #99 RFK Racing Ford Mustang of Corey LaJoie.
LaJoie’s car got spun the side of AJ Allmendinger’s #16 Kaulig Racing Camaro before secondary contact with Suarez shot the car up the road and into the SAFER Barrier.
Van Gisbergen, who was immediately behind Suarez, escaped with barely a scratch. Sparks flew from his front splitter as he dipped the #97 Camaro onto the apron to avoid the melee.
At the same time, open entry Casey Mears in the #66 Garage 66 Mustang kept his foot planted and rear-ended Suarez.
Having blazed by Lajoie, Mears qualified for the Daytona 500.
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Asked post-race how he made it through the carnage, Mears replied: “Probably a little bit of power in prayer.
“There was a lot of that going on in the car. I got a run on the outside and I figured I would just stay in the gas, no matter what happened.
“When I saw them spinning and I missed the first guy, I thought, ‘Okay, good’.
“Then I hit [Suarez] square and I knew when I hit him flat and it didn’t tear up the car too much and I was going to be able to get back.
“I didn’t know who was in front of me still and whether or not we had made it. Then all the guys started going nuts on the radio.
“I can’t believe we’re here based on how our night went.”
It was a remarkable recovery for Mears, having earlier been involved in an incident with 15 laps to go.
He spun entering the pits and took Noah Gragson in the #4 Front Row Motorsports Mustang with him through the grass.
The race featured one other caution. WIith five laps to go, Bubba Wallace in the #23 23XI Racing Toyota Camry spun on the back straight, and the subsequent carnage took out Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher.
That set up a two-lap green-white-chequered, which was ultimately won by Logano.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Duel at Daytona, Daytona International Speedway
Pos
Num
Drive
Team
Car
Laps
Diff
Gap
1
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
63
2
12
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
Ford Mustang
63
0.241
0.241
3
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
63
0.611
0.370
4
42
John Hunter Nemechek
Legacy Motor Club
Toyota Camry
63
0.866
0.255
5
97
Shane Van Gisbergen
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
63
3.93
3.064
6
66
Casey Mears
Garage 66
Ford Mustang
63
4.064
0.134
7
7
Daniel Suarez
Spire Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
63
5.905
1.841
8
60
Ryan Preece
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
63
6.328
0.423
9
48
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
63
7.837
1.509
10
4
Noah Gragson
Front Row Motorsports
Ford Mustang
63
12.771
4.934
11
41
Cole Custer
Haas Factory Team
Chevrolet Camaro
63
13.345
0.574
12
23
Bubba Wallace
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
63
14.018
0.673
13
67
Corey Heim
23XI Racing
Toyota Camry
63
14.484
0.466
14
84
Jimmie Johnson
Legacy Motor Club
TOyota Camry
63
15.528
1.044
15
36
Chandler Smith
Front Row Motorsports
TOyota Camry
63
16.185
0.657
16
51
Cody Ware
Rick Ware Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
63
16.608
0.423
17
8
Kyle Busch
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
63
18.056
1.448
18
6
Brad Keselowski
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
63
7:27.109
7:09.053
19
99
Corey LaJoie
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
62
0.148
7:26.961
20
16
AJ Allmendinger
Kaulig Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
62
0.348
0.200
21
1
Ross Chastain
Trackhouse Racing
Chevrolet Camaro
62
0.435
0.087
22
24
William Byron
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet Camaro
55
8 laps
23
17
Chris Buescher
RFK Racing
Ford Mustang
55
8 laps
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