DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. What should have been a tune-up for the Daytona 500 could have cost Hendrick Motorsports the front row for NASCAR’s opening season spectacle.
Alex Bowman and William Byron would lead the Daytona 500 field to the green flag on Sunday, but that is in trouble after Thursday night’s qualifying races. Bowman had an engine problem during the first 150-mile race and if his engine has to be replaced, he will lose pole.
Byron was collected in a crash in the second race in which his Chevrolet broke down. He has to move to a spare car for the 500 and the change sends him to the back of the field.
Aric Almirola won the first race and after a rain delay pushed the second Duel to a finish on Friday morning, Austin Dillon used a crossover on Bubba Wallace to beat Wallace with the checkered flag.
Almirola, in a Ford, is scheduled to start behind Byron, but will slide to the front row if Byron falls back. Dillon, in a Chevrolet, will wait and see if Hendrick changes Bowman’s engine this weekend.
Austin Cindric and Kaz Grala both earned their first places in the Daytona 500 by claiming the two available transfer positions in the Duels. Ty Dillon, Timmy Hill, Garrett Smithley and Noah Gragson all got stuck.
Smithley and Gragson competed for the transfer spot in the second race when Smithley tried to dive around Gragson. Brad Keselowski on his outside did not expect Smithley to fill the gap and the two collided, creating a wreck that knocked out both Smithley and Gragson.
Byron also got into that crash.