Austin Cindric emerged as the winner of the second of two Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 13, amid a photo finish with Erik Jones that was initially awarded to the latter, but then awarded to the former who was out in front at the moment of caution on the final lap amid a multi-car wreck.
The 2022 Daytona 500 champion from Mooresville, North Carolina, led six of 60 scheduled laps after starting on the pole. He led the first lap before he spent the remainder of the second Duel event mingling towards the front with his fellow competitors. Being granted the opportunity to contend for a Duel win instead of preserving his car for Sunday’s Great American Race, Cindric restarted on the front row during the final restart period with seven laps remaining
The Action
After swapping the lead with Chris Buescher throughout the final restart period, Cindric muscled ahead from the field with drafting help from teammate Joey Logano prior to the final lap. Starting at the backstretch on the final lap, he then dueled with Erik Jones approaching the finish line as a six-car multi-car wreck ensued. With Jones having initially beaten Cindric to the line, the latter was ruled the official winner due to being ahead of Jones when NASCAR opted to display the caution for the carnage.
Before the event, Austin Cindric, who achieved a front-row starting spot for the 2025 Daytona 500, started in pole position and he shared the front row with teammate Joey Logano, the latter of whom posted the fourth-fastest qualifying lap during Wednesday’s single-car qualifying session.
Green Flag
Christopher Bell, the reigning Duel 2 winner, dropped to the rear of the field prior to the event due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry.
When the green flag waved and the second Duel event commenced, Cindric launched his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead from the outside lane before he quickly darted to the inside and in front of teammate Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry through the frontstretch.
Through the first two turns and the backstretch, Cindric kept Logano drafting him as both transitioned from the inside to the outside lane. This, however, allowed Denny Hamlin to gain a run from the inside lane as he challenged Cindric for the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Despite Hamlin’s strong run from the inside lane, Cindric barely led the first lap through the frontstretch.
Over the next four laps, Hamlin and Cindric dueled against one another in front of two-stacked lanes, with Hamlin having drafting help from Kyle Larson on the inside lane while Cindric continued to receive assistance from teammate Logano on the outside lane.
Both Hamlin and Cindric would continue to duel for the lead during the next three laps until Hamlin muscled his No. 11 National Debt Relief Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead from the inside lane. As Hamlin led the event, where he would proceed to lead the Lap 10 mark, Larson challenged Cindric for the runner-up spot while Logano, Chris Buescher, Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland, rookie Riley Herbst and Brad Keselowski were battling inside the top 10 ahead of rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Ryan Blaney, Corey LaJoie, Daniel Suarez, Cody Ware, Jimmie Johnson, John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell and Erik Jones.
Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Hamlin maintained the lead ahead of the 22-car field, with Cindric, Logano, Larson and Bowman trailing in the top five. Then as the field fanned out to three lanes, Erik Jones rocketed his No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE entry into the lead.
As Jones led the Lap 16 mark, he was followed by his team owner, Jimmie Johnson. With more shuffling ensuing in the pack, Ryan Blaney challenged Jones for the lead on Lap 17 with drafting help from Daniel Suarez and Bell. The field would continue to fan out to three lanes as Jones rocketed back ahead and maintained the lead over Johnson and Blaney by Lap 20.
The Halfway Mark
At the halfway mark on Lap 30, Jones, who had maintained the lead over the last 10 laps, dueled with Suarez. Both drivers were ahead of two-stacked lanes that included Johnson, Hamlin, Blaney, Larson, Bell, Bowman, Gilliland and John Hunter Nemechek, eacing in the top 10.
Meanwhile, Johnson was the highest non-chartered competitor on the track while Corey LaJoie and Anthony Alfredo, both of whom were battling Johnson for transfer spots into the Daytona 500, were mired in 11th and 14th, respectively.
Towards the Lap 35 mark, Johnson, who was racing towards the front, pitted his No. 84 Carvana Toyota Camry XSE entry. By then, his driver Erik Jones was shuffled back towards the top-10 mark while both Suarez and Blaney dueled for the lead in front of Cindric, Hamlin and the rest of the field. In addition, Johnson’s move to pit allowed Alfredo to move up into a transfer spot over LaJoie.
The Final Laps
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Suarez was the lead competitor on the inside lane. He was followed by Hamlin, Larson, Blaney, Alfredo, Cindric, Bowman, Logano, Jones and Gragson. By then, Johnson was lapped by the field. Over the next three laps, Blaney had his two Team Penske teammates, Cindric and Logano, drafting him from the outside lane. They were pursued by Ford teammate Gragson while Suarez kept Hamlin, Larson and Alfredo drafting him to the lead from the inside lane.
Then with 16 laps remaining, a late cycle of green flag pit stops occurred. Suarez led all the Toyota and Chevrolet competitors racing on the inside lane to pit road for fuel. During the pit stops, Hamlin, along with Kyle Larson and John Hunter Nemechek, was penalized for speeding on pit road.
Half of the Ford competitors, led by Blaney, pitted for fuel a lap later. The remaining half of the Ford drivers, led by Keselowski, Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Cole Custer and Cody Ware, pit under green with 14 laps remaining.
Following the pit stops, Buescher exited pit road with the lead as he was followed by Keselowski and Custer. Custer, however, would be overtaken by a bevy of competitors that pitted earlier and that was led by Cindric through the backstretch with 14 laps remaining. Cindric would then zip by Keselowski during the following lap before he got stalled by Buescher entering the backstretch.
Then as Buescher made a sharp left-hand turn to block Cindric from overtaking him amid the draft, an ensuing stack-up resulted with Bowman, Suarez and Keselowski bumping, colliding and wrecking into one another in the backstretch as the caution flew. Before the incident, Keselowski was penalized for removing equipment out of his pit box.
Down to the final seven laps of the second Duel event, the field restarted under green. At the start, Buescher and Cindric dueled for the lead entering the first two turns until Cindric muscled ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Logano. Buescher, however, would fight back from the outside lane as he had drafting help from LaJoie and Blaney through the backstretch before Cindric muscled back ahead entering Turns 3 and 4 as he would lead the next lap through the frontstretch.
With five laps remaining, Cindric and Buescher continued to duel for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes as Logano and LaJoie followed suit in the second row. By then, Gragson and Blaney also followed suit as Logano kept drafting teammate Cindric to the front from the inside lane. In addition, LaJoie was in prime position of claiming a transfer spot to the Daytona 500 over Anthony Alfredo, the latter of whom was mired within the top-10 mark.
The Winner
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Cindric remained in the lead. over teammate Logano and Erik Jones as the field started to fan out to three lanes. Through the first two turns, Cindric remained ahead of Logano as Jones ignited a run from the outside lane with drafting help from Buescher. This allowed Jones to draw even with Cindric exiting the backstretch as both continued to battle dead even through Turns 3 and 4.
Then entering the frontstretch, a multi-car wreck that involved Larson, Shane van Gisbergen, Riley Herbst, Alfredo, Cole Custer and Cody Ware ensued. Amid the carnage, Jones and Cindric remained dueled for the win until Jones managed to edge Cindric at the finish line to initially claim the victory. Upon a review of the footage and the battle for the win, however, NASCAR determined that the caution was displayed before the field crossed the finish line to complete the event. At the moment of caution, Cindric barely scored ahead of Jones and was ruled the official winner.
The Conclusion
With the victory, Cindric, who finished in second place in a Duel event over the last three seasons, notched his first Daytona Duel career victory, the eighth overall for Team Penske and 10 championship points. Having qualified on the front row for this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500, Cindric became the first front-row starter for the Great American Race to win a Duel event since Chase Elliott won the first Duel event in 2017 days after he won the pole position for the main event.
As the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season marks Austin Cindric’s fourth consecutive overall as a full-time competitor in the series, it will also mark a season where the North Carolinian will attempt to become the 13th competitor overall to win the Great American Race multiple times this upcoming weekend.
Quotes
“Cool, I feel bad for Erik [by] having to go all the way over [the frontstretch],” Cindric said on pit road on FS1. “Obviously, they made a great move on the last lap there. Joey [Logano] and I were sitting ducks with the middle lane fading there. We had [a] really fast Discount Tire Ford Mustang. Super proud of my team and everyone to go out here and execute. Thank you to [crew chief] Brian [Wilson] for letting me race.
“It was very difficult to maybe persuade that, but it was his birthday, so this is a good birthday present for him. It’s cool, but still a lot to go for the [Daytona 500].”
Erik Jones led a race-high 16 laps. He initially drove to the frontstretch to celebrate but was awarded second place,. Jones will start in fourth place for this year’s Daytona 500. Chris Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano finished in the top five in the second Duel event while Corey LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, Ran Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek and Christopher Bell completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Corey LaJoie secures Daytona 500 berth
Meanwhile, Corey LaJoie was also victorious as the highest non-chartered competitor in the second Duel event As a result, he muscled his No. 01 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry into the Daytona 500 LaJoie, a third-generation racer from Charlotte, North Carolina, will make his ninth consecutive start in the Great American Race this upcoming weekend.
Securing a 2025 Daytona 500 berth was a redemptive moment for LaJoie, who was unable to secure a full-time Cup Series ride for this season after he was traded to Rick Ware Racing from Spire Motorsports midway into the 2024 season.
“You forget how special this race is,” LaJoie, who was relieved, said. “When you have to race for it, you have to earn it. Because when you’re racing full-time, it’s just the first [race] of 36, but when it’s the one that you think about for months, it means that much more. It means so much for that Rick Ware group. I’m pumped up, man. I wasn’t that stressed going in, but I am super relieved right now. We got 500 miles on Sunday to see if we can get a little closer to the front.”
With LaJoie securing his spot for this year’s Daytona 500 based on his on-track result from the second Duel event, Jimmie Johnson, who ended up in 19th place, fell back on his qualifying trials from Wednesday night to make the main event.
Meanwhile, Anthony Alfredo and BJ McLeod were the two “non-chartered” competitors that did not qualify for the 2025 Daytona 500.
There were 16 lead changes for seven different leaders. The event featured two caution for six laps. In addition, 19 of 22 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results:
1. Austin Cindric, five laps led
2. Erik Jones, 16 laps led
3. Chris Buescher, nine laps led
4. Denny Hamlin, 14 laps led
5. Joey Logano
6. Corey LaJoie
7. Todd Gilliland
8. Ryan Blaney, five laps led
9. John Hunter Nemechek
10. Christopher Bell
11. Kyle Larson
12. Riley Herbst
13. Anthony Alfredo
14. Shane van Gisbergen
15. Cody Ware
16. Cole Custer
17. BJ McLeod
18. Noah Gragson
19. Jimmie Johnson
20. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, two laps led
21. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident, nine laps led
22. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident
With the starting lineup for this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 officially set, the main event is set to commence on Sunday, February 16, which will also mark the official start of NASCAR’s 77th season of premier series competition. The coverage for this year’s Great American Race is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
