Daytona Beach, Florida – Spectacular crashes, concerns of handling, and rising stars highlighted the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Can-Am Duels on Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway, setting the stage for what is to be a highly anticipated Daytona 500.
The two races endured a faucet of crashes, regulating eight drivers, including seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, who won four races in 2017, as well as Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, William Byron, David Gilliland, Matt DiBenedetto and Austin Dillon to backup cars for the Daytona 500.
Ryan Blaney continued Ford and Penske Racing’s strong showing throughout Speedweeks with a win in the first Can-Am Duel. Blaney will start 3rd in Sunday’s race. Chase Elliott brought home the checkered flag, winning the second Can-Am Duel for Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott has never started worse than 4th for the Daytona 500.
Here is the starting lineup for the Great American Race this Sunday, February 18th.
1) Alex Bowman
2) Denny Hamlin
3) Ryan Blaney
4) Chase Elliott
5) Joey Logano
6) Kevin Harvick
7) Darrell Wallace Jr.
8) Erik Jones
9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
10) Clint Bowyer
11) Kurt Busch
12) Kyle Busch
13) Ryan Newman
14) Austin Dillon
15) David Ragan
16) Paul Menard
17) Daniel Suarez
18) Trevor Bayne
19) Jamie McMurray
20) A.J. Allmendinger
21) Chris Buescher
22) Michael McDowell
23) Ty Dillon
24) Martin Truex Jr.
25) Brendan Gaughan
26) Kasey Kahne
27) Jeffrey Earnhardt
28) Danica Patrick
29) Justin Marks
30) DJ Kennington
31) Brad Keselowski
32) Corey LaJoie
33) William Byron
34) Gray Gaulding
35) Jimmie Johnson
36) Matt DiBenedetto
37) Aric Almirola
38) Kyle Larson
39) David Gilliland
40) Mark Thompson
