Austin Dillon passed Bubba Wallace coming to the finish line in overtime to win the second Daytona Duel qualifying race, which ended early Friday morning, at Daytona International Speedway.
“Good debut, but nothing to be really happy about myself,” Wallace told FS1.
The race went to overtime because of a multi-car crash that sent William Byron‘s car into the wall. The damage is expected to be enough to force him to a backup car and make him relinquish his second-place starting spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Kevin Harvick finished third and was followed by Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott.
David Ragan was the top-finishing non-chartered car in eighth. That allowed Kaz Grala to make the Daytona 500 via his qualifying speed.
The incident that collected Byron started when Garrett Smithley got into the right rear of Brad Keselowski, turning Keselowski’s car. The cars of Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson also were involved.
The start of the race was delayed more than two-and-a-half hours by rain and an Air Titan crashing on track.
Rain fell after the first Duel. NASCAR later called the Air Titans to help dry the track. An Air Titan went too slowly in Turn 4 and slid backward down the 31-degree banking, damaging the portion behind the vehicle that dries the track. Removing the truck took several minutes, further delaying the start of the second race.
After the area was cleared, the truck drove away.
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Kaz Grala made the Daytona 500 for Kaulig Racing based on qualifying after David Ragan secured the spot with his eighth-place finish.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Willilam Byron led 34 of the 63 laps, but his car was involved in a crash and is expected to go to a backup car for the Daytona 500 and give up his front-row starting spot. … Martin Truex Jr. finished 12th after losing the lead on the last lap.
NOTABLE: Austin Dillon’s win is the first win for the No. 3 in a Daytona qualifying race since Dale Earnhardt won his 10th consecutive qualifying race in 1999.
NEXT: The Daytona 500 is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox.
