Bubba Wallace won his first Daytona 500 qualifying race as Justin Allgaier ensured JR Motorsports will start its first Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
In the opening Daytona 500 Duel qualifying race Thursday night, Wallace led the final three laps in his No. 23 Toyota and got a push from 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick to hold off the three Chevrolets of William Byron, Ty Dillon and Ross Chastain.
“Thanks to Tyler.; that was awesome to see two team cars work together that well and learn a lot for Sunday,” Wallace told FS1. "(He) did a great job pushing me. Our Camry was really fast. Two different balances from being in the pack to being out front. Have some work to do there.
RESULTS: Click here for the finishing order in Duel Race 1
RACE 2: Austin Cindric nips Erik Jones for victory
“I’ve wanted one of these Duel wins for so long. All my buddies got one. Tyler got one last year. I was pissed off. I got one now. I’m good.”
Allgaier placed ninth in the No. 40 Chevrolet fielded by the team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller and advanced to Sunday’s Daytona 500 as the highest-finishing open driver in the 60-lap race.
Allgaier won last year’s Xfinity Series championship for JRM, which had competed on the second-tier circuit for two decades before attempting to qualify for its first race in NASCAR’s premier series with the 2025 season opener.
“The emotions right now are really just because of how much everybody here has wanted it,” Allgaier told FS1. “Dale and Kelley and L.W. and everybody at JR Motorsports. This guy right here, his lip was quivering and his hands were shaking before the race. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that out of Dale Jr. He told me before the race I’m nervous. I don’t want to make you nervous, but I’m really nervous.
“It’s the truth. This means a lot to our team, this little team of JR Motorsports. Dale Jr. is an amazing race car driver. He’s an amazing dad, car owner. You can tell how much he wanted this and our whole shop wanted this.”
Said Earnhardt Jr.: “I’m so proud of Justin. He put the whole team on his back those last couple of laps, and he got to the top. I did not think that was possible, but he got up there and made something work. It was his only shot. Got some help. We got some people to thank.
“Just a great race car, great guys. He has put a group together that’s motivated. Some special people on this team that I have worked with all the way back to 1998. But I’m going to tell you, man, this sport is amazing. Everything about it. I’ve seen it from so many different lenses. And I love the challenges. I wouldn’t want it any other way. This was hard emotionally, but I can’t believe that we get to race on Sunday. I just can’t believe it.”
Martin Truex Jr., who already was locked into the Daytona 500 by qualifying speed, advanced to the main event with a 15th-place finish.
Despite crashing on Lap 14, Helio Castroneves also is in the field of the Daytona 500 as an additional 41st driver because of a new provisional for a world-class driver.
JJ Yeley and Chander Smith failed to make the Daytona 500. Smith was running third when he started a multicar crash on Lap 14 that also collected Justin Haley, Helio Castoneves and Ty Gibbs.
Smith drifted down the track in Turn 2, and made contact with the right front of Haley’s No. 7 Chevrolet. Smith slammed the outside wall with his No. 66 Ford in a head-on collision that he called the worst crash of his career.
“My digital mirror ended up going out, so I couldn’t really see out of my left side mirror and just got cleared on the inside and was about to drop down and kind of leave that lane,” Smith said. “My spotter said (Haley) is getting ready to come inside, and I could start seeing the two cars in front of me started blending bottom a little bit, so I started fading with them and just made a bad judgment call.”
Smith appeared to have the wind knocked out of him when exiting the car. He was in the care center for an extended period before being cleared.
“I’m all good,” he said. “I’m super grateful for everybody in the care center, taking the right precautions and just letting me clear the normal protocols and just walk out the door. They were a little concerned and wanted to take some X-rays, so we did that and everything looked good there. I’m grateful that we have that good of an infield care center.”
Daytona 500 pole-sitter Chase Briscoe led three laps but parked his No. 19 Toyota after 26 of 60 laps to finish 19th. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is locked into the top starting spot in Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, Fox).
Daytona 500 Duel Qualifying Race 1 results
1. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
2. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
3. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
4. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
5. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
6. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
7. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
8. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
9. Justin Allgaier, No. 40 Chevrolet
10. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
11. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
12. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
13. Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
14. Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
15. Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 Toyota
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
17. JJ Yeley, No. 44 Chevrolet
18. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
19. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
20. Chandler Smith, No. 66 Ford
21. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
22. Helio Castroneves, No. 91 Chevrolet
23. Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
