WALLACE WINS SECOND STRAIGHT DAYTONA DUEL RACE FOR 23XI
|Wallace to start third in the Great American Race
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (February 13, 2025) – The 23XI teammates of Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick worked together perfectly down the stretch of Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night leading to Wallace claiming the victory and the third starting spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Wallace led 21 of the 60 laps and scored the second straight Daytona Duel win for 23XI after Reddick’s win last season. Toyota has now won the last three Duel races at Daytona.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Daytona International Speedway
Duel 1 – 150 miles, 60 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, BUBBA WALLACE
2nd, William Bryon*
3rd, Ty Dillon*
4th, Ross Chastain*
5th, TYLER REDDICK
11th, TY GIBBS
15th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.
19th, CHASE BRISCOE
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Can you describe your emotions right now?
“What a good night. I didn’t know how it was going to play out, and we got the lead there and my McDonald’s Camry just switched like a light switch to a totally different balance from being in the pack. It was a little bit edgy out front, but luckily, I’ve got some years under my belt that people still trust me. I was lucky to have Tyler (Reddick) behind me – he did a great job pushing me. I appreciate that massive 23XI effort to get us this win. But all-in-all – we’ve got McDonald’s back in victory lane at the Duel. It sets us up really good for Sunday. We will enjoy this little moment right now. I told myself I would do more of – enjoy the little stuff. But hats off to these guys here. Hats off to Charles (Denike, crew chief) – first time at Daytona in a Cup car, and we got him a win. I forgot where to go. I forgot where to stop. The best thing is – I cried when I walked out with Becks (Wallace’s son) on pit road for driver intros, and it is really special to have him here. It is awesome.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What did you take away for Sunday?
“Yeah, early on, I felt like our Nasty Beast Camry was going for a wild ride – thankfully, I was able to hang on to it. Knocked some of the rust off at Bowman Gray. I didn’t know what was going to happen there, but I feel like it worked okay with all of the cars coming back to pit road. Bubba (Wallace) and I were able to get hooked pretty up early on – and worked together a lot there. Gave him a couple of too big of shots at times, but it is a great learning tool to get ready for the 500. All-in-all, the main objective was to get one of us into victory lane, which we accomplished. I just wished we could’ve held on to second – we just kind of got swallowed up there on the last lap.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 19th
It was your first time in the draft with the Camry. What do you feel like you learned heading into Sunday?
“Definitely learned a lot. I would have loved to have more laps. It was hard. I didn’t want to put myself in bad situations and lose the front row. Still ended up getting damage from debris – but I learned a lot. I thought my Bass Pro Shops Camry was honestly a little better in the single car run than it was in the pack. It’s hard because nobody is really pushing like they would at the end of the race either. Definitely some stuff that I can work on for sure – I think some things we can do to make our car better, so we will see how it goes Sunday.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 49 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In spring 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 31 electrified options.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
