Joey Logano and Chase Elliott Victorious in The Duels as Field is Set for the Daytona 500

KELSEY CHRISTMAN - STAFF WRITER

NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano celebrates his victory in Duel One (James Gilbert, Getty Images, Daytona, 2026)

While Wednesday’s NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying set the front row, The Duels at Daytona set the second row and beyond, finalizing the field for the 2026 Daytona 500. Casey Mears, Chandler Smith, Anthony Alfredo, J. J. Yeley, B. J. McLeod, and Corey LaJoie continued their race for the final two spots as open entries.

After a smooth first half of Duel One, with the exception of a pitting incident between Casey Mears and Noah Gragson, caution came out on Lap 57. Bubba Wallace slowed from the lead resulting in contact from behind by Austin Dillon. William Byron and Chris Buescher were caught up in the incident, finishing their night in the garage with heavy damage. Chandler Smith had front splitter damage after Buescher was caught across his front end through the wreck.

Overtime led to a last lap caution to end Duel One. Just when Corey LaJoie looked to have secured his spot for Sunday with RFK Racing, the bottom line bunched up to send the No. 99 hard into the outside wall of turn three. A. J. Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, and Casey Mears were also involved in the incident. Despite being involved in the first and third cautions of the race with damage, Mears raced his way into the third open spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500, as Joey Logano held off teammate Ryan Blaney at the front to claim the victory.

Unlike the first duel, Duel Two proceeded without incident for 61 laps of clean racing and a smooth cycle of green flag pit stops. Chase Elliott took the final checkered flag of the night to secure his spot on the second row for Sunday’s race. Anthony Alfredo initially clinched the final open spot to enter the Daytona 500 for his third career start in the event, but two hours after the race, the Beard Motorsports Chevrolet failed postrace inspection, with NASCAR citing an improperly connected transaxle cooling hose as the culprit. In Alfredo's place, B.J. McLeod, who finished 20th in Duel 2, locked himself and Live Fast Motorsports into the Great American Race.

With the 41-car field now set, the NASCAR Cup Series is ready for its most anticipated event of the season on Sunday afternoon.