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Aric Almirola held off a hard attack from Joey Logano who came to the checkered flag to win the Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1 at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday evening.
Almirola, a No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver, led 52 of the 60-lap qualifying race for Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 PM ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: Race Results Duel 1
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell passed Logano to finish second, followed by Ryan Newman, Logano and Ryan Preece to complete the top five.
Preece beat Ty Dillon by a scant 0.04 seconds at the finish line to make his way to the Daytona 500. That gave reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric a starting bid based on qualifying speed – despite his 16th place in the Duel. to a pit-road speed penalty – and sent Ty Dillon home. Three of the four transfer positions were then clear after the first game – with Preece, Cindric and David Ragan (who qualified on speed). Another will be determined in the second Duel.
RELATED: How Austin Cindric Entered the Daytona 500
“First of all, I get the bonehead-of-the-race award for speeding on the last part of the pit lane, while nailing everything else all night that I didn’t know how to do,” said Team Penske driver Cindric on a speed penalty after a pit stop mid-race.I am of course very happy to get the Verizon 5G Ford Mustang in the big show. Obviously I still had a lot to learn, but racing on the biggest podium against the best drivers is a great opportunity. “
The Fords – Almirola in particular – dominated Duel 1, spending most of the race bumper to bumper in different order up front. Almirola and Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 winner, spent a lot of time 1-2. There were nine lead changes among five drivers.
After the race, Tampa, Florida-born Almirola smiled and mentioned the recent good run for Tampa Sports – a nod to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super Bowl victory last week.
“A great way to start Speedweeks,” said Almirola. “This thing is very fast and I can’t wait for Sunday.”
With 29 laps to go, Daytona 500 pole-sitter Alex Bowman reported to his No. 48 Chevrolet team that he felt the engine was “blowing up”, but after the crew looked under the hood, he returned to the track. He finished 20th in the event.
Two-time defending Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, who is aiming to become the first driver in history to win three consecutive versions of NASCAR’s Great American Race, finished 13th. He had to be No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Pushing Toyota back into the pits after the race because he ran out of fuel on the last lap – after taking the white flag in fourth position.
Next up is Duel 2 (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), which features all the even-numbered drivers from Wednesday night’s Daytona 500 qualifying speeds and will determine the off-lane starting points for Sunday’s main event.
Contributions: NASCAR Wire Service