With a push from Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin shot past Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps remaining and went unchallenged to win the second Can-Am Duel qualifying race.
Hamlin, who received a pit penalty during a competition caution, led four laps all night on the way to the his third-career win in a Daytona 500 qualifying race.
The defending Daytona 500 winner was followed by Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger and Dillon as Earnhardt finished sixth.
“Got a great push there from Austin, we worked well together the entire race,” Hamlin told Fox Sports 1. “I’ll keep that in mind for the 500. Looked like our cars were really good together. Can’t thank this team enough.”
Hamlin bounced back after he had to restart from the rear following a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes as he left his own pit stall.
Hamlin took the win from Earnhardt, who led 53 of the race’s 60 laps. Entering Turn 3 with two laps left, Earnhardt went low as the push from Dillon gave Hamlin enough momentum to get around on the high side.
“I don’t know what I could have done differently to defend that,” Earnhardt told FS1. “As soon as I heard (Dillon) was clear on the outside, I knew they were going to have a big run. Denny is so smart, he knows what he’s doing out there. One of the better plate racers out there.”
Earnhardt was making his first start in a race since July after recovering from a concussion that forced him to miss the final 18 races of 2016.
Canadian driver DJ Kennington raced his way into the Daytona 500, which will be his second NASCAR Cup Series start.
Timmy Hill and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify for the race.
