Chase Elliott headlines Can-Am Duels

Race Info

Race: Can-Am Duels
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Laps: 60
Time: 7:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. ET
TV: Fox Sports 1

Chase Elliott headlines Can-Am Duels

The final week of speedweeks has arrived. From here on out, for the cup series at least, it’s all about racing.

The racing will start this Thursday with the Can-Am Duels – two 60 lap qualifying races to determine the starting order for the 59th running of the Daytona 500.

Because they qualified first and second on Sunday, Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have solidified their spots on the front row of the 500. They will lead each respective field to the green flag Thursday.

This is the third year in a row that the No. 24 team will be taking the green flag at Daytona.

Penske Fords will show what they’ve got

The first duel of the day is headlined by the pair of Penske Fords in Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. The teammates made up two of the top three practice times set in the only practice session so far.

Aside from that, the first duel is lacking storylines compared to the second.

Earnhardt Jr. returns to competitive racing

As for the second duel, Earnhardt Jr. will pace the field as he returns for his first competitive race since July 9, 2016. Junior missed the second half of the NASCAR season with concussion issues, but that clearly hasn’t affected him thus far, albeit it being a small sample size.

Earnhardt Jr. is followed by another driver who is making his return to the big stage in Clint Bowyer, who spent last year with HScott Motorsports. He starts second in the duel in his first event with Stewart Haas Racing.

Move down just one more spot on the grid and find Denny Hamlin: the defending Daytona 500 champion.
As for the rest of the field, Ty Dillon starts off his rookie of the year campaign in sixth, defending series champion Jimmie Johnson in seventh, and Michael Waltrip 17th as he prepares for the final race of his career.

Lineups