Track: Daytona International Speedway
Race: The Duels at Daytona
Date: February 11, 2020
No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Brad Keselowski
Start: 13th
Finish: 11th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 63/63
Laps Led: 0
Notes:
- An accident in the closing laps robbed Brad Keselowski of a respectable finish in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel #2 Wednesday night at Daytona International Speedway.
- The start of the race was delayed over two hours by rain, pushing the green flag to after 11:00 p.m. ET. Keselowski started 13th and steadily worked his way through the field. He landed in the top-five by lap 13. The driver of the Discount Tire Ford said the balance on his No. 2 Mustang was just a little free and was running sixth when the first caution slowed the pace on lap 37. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins made the call to pit during the caution, opting for four tires and a wedge adjustment. Keselowski lined up eighth for the restart when the race went green on lap 40.
- Once again Keselowski began to work his way to the front of the field, climbing up to third position on lap 44 before being shuffled out of line three laps later. He briefly dropped outside the top-10 but surged to the front as race drew to a close.
- He was running eighth when trouble struck on lap 58. The No. 2 Mustang was clipped in the right-rear by another car at the entrance to Turn 1, triggering a five-car accident that pushed the finish of the race into NASCAR Overtime. Keselowski pitted twice during the caution for repairs and restarted 13th when the race went green on lap 61. Over the final two laps, Keselowski was able to gain two positions and was credited with an 11th-place finish in the final rundown.
Quote: "Certainly not the night we wanted with our Discount Tire Ford."
No. 12 Menards/BlueDEF/PEAK Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start: 9th
Finish: 6th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 63/63
Laps Led: 4
Notes:
- Ryan Blaney started ninth and finished sixth in an eventful Duel #2 at the Daytona International Speedway. The driver of the Menards/BlueDEF/PEAK Ford Mustang narrowly avoided a lap 58 multi-car accident.
- After more than a two-hour delay for rain, Duel #2 finally rolled off and Blaney would spend much of the race inside the top-five. He would report to crew chief Todd Gordon the balance was good, but he lacked the ability suck up to other cars.
- Blaney would visit pit road under caution on lap 37, taking fuel only along with a wedge adjustment and tape on the nose. He would cycle to the lead on the restart, but would be shuffled back to 10th by lap 50.
- Blaney would narrowly avoid a multi-car crash on lap 58, by taking his Menards Ford to the apron in turn 1.
- The race concluded with a green, white, checkered finish with Blaney charging to the front coming home with a sixth-place finish. He will start 14th in the Daytona 500.
Quote: "Happy to bring the Menards/BluDEF/PEAK Ford Mustang home in one piece. We had a good handling car but struggled getting other cars in the draft. I learned a lot about what I'll need to be able to compete for the win on Sunday."
No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang - Joey Logano
Start: 11th
Finish: 4th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 60/60
Laps Led: 0
Notes:
- Joey Logano started 11th and finished fourth in Thursday night's Blue Green Vacations Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang. Logano had a relatively uneventful Duel, spending the majority of the race in the second position before making a move on the final lap in an attempt to win the race, but ultimately finishing fourth.
- Logano moved inside the top-five on the opening laps of the race and climbed to the second position while working with a group of Ford Performance teammates by lap 20, reporting the Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang was building free. The team pitted at lap 34 with several other Ford Mustangs, taking fuel and making a trackbar adjustment to the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang to work on the loose handling condition.
- After the pit stop, Logano continued to run in the second position behind the No. 10 Ford Mustang of Aric Almirola, logging laps around in the high lane of the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Logano rode in the second position until the final lap, when he made a move on the race leader. However, he ultimately faded to the fourth position at the checkered flag.
- Logano will lineup in the ninth position for Sunday's Daytona 500 as he chases his second win in "The Great American Race."
Quote: "We had a solid race tonight with our Shell-Pennzoil Mustang. Overall the car drove really well, we were a little bit loose but the team made an adjustment at the stop to tighten me up a bit. We could have finished second there, but that's not in my nature to just settle, so I tried to win, but ultimately we brought home a clean Shell-Pennzoil Ford to race again on Sunday."
No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang – Austin Cindric
Start: 10th
Finish: 16th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 59/60
Laps Led: 0
Notes:
- Austin Cindric qualified his No. 33 Verizon 5G Ford Mustang in on time for the Daytona 500 after a 16th-place finish in Duel #1 at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday night. Cindric will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the World Center of Racing on Sunday, February 14 in "The Great American Race."
- Cindric started the first Duel from the 10th position and quickly raced his Verizon 5G Ford Mustang inside the top-five.
- As the race progressed, Cindric communicated to crew chief Miles Stanley his Mustang was handling a tick loose, as evident by the TV cameras. Cindric surrendered the seventh position on lap 34 to pit for fuel only. As the Cup Series rookie was exiting pit road, he was penalized for speeding in the final segment of pit road and penalized with a pass-through penalty.
- Cindric was scored in the 18th position one-lap down to the leaders with 10-laps remaining in the 60-lap race. Cindric worked his way up to 16th position as the checked flag flew. With Ryan Preece making a last-lap pass at the checkers to secure the transfer spot from Duel #1 for open cars, Cindric was able to fall back on his qualifying time to earn a spot in his Daytona 500 start.
Quote: "I feel like I did all the hard things correctly tonight, it's the easy one that I got wrong. I can't believe I sped on pit road. I get bonehead of the night, but, overall, really proud to get this Verizon 5G Ford Mustang into the big show. Obviously, it's the biggest stage in NASCAR and I've got a shot to learn how to race against the best for 500 miles. After I lined up behind the 37 I knew I had a shot and whether he wanted to move forward or not I was gonna push him no matter what and it was a matter of inches. Unbelievable."