# 2018 Can-Am Duels

The 2018 Can-Am Duels were a pair of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car races held on February 15, 2018, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both contested over 60 laps, they were the qualifying races for the 2018 Daytona 500, and also counted as the first stage of the race, although no playoff points were awarded, the top ten in each race earn championship points as is normal in a stage.

## Report
### Background

Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four–turn superspeedway that is 2.5-mile (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

## Qualifying

Alex Bowman scored the pole for the race with a time of 46.002 and a speed of 195.644 mph (314.858 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 |
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.181 | 46.002 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46.201 | 46.132 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.420 | 46.217 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46.366 | 46.224 |
| 5 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.328 | 46.261 |
| 6 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46.513 | 46.279 |
| 7 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46.412 | 46.280 |
| 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 46.420 | 46.281 |
| 9 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 46.313 | 46.381 |
| 10 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.534 | 46.413 |
| 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 46.422 | 46.437 |
| 12 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 46.470 | 46.584 |
| 13 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 46.539 | — |
| 14 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 46.546 | — |
| 15 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 46.577 | — |
| 16 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 46.658 | — |
| 17 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 46.678 | — |
| 18 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 46.694 | — |
| 19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 46.698 | — |
| 20 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 46.781 | — |
| 21 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 46.816 | — |
| 22 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 46.817 | — |
| 23 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 46.836 | — |
| 24 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 46.899 | — |
| 25 | 43 | Bubba Wallace (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.938 | — |
| 26 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 47.002 | — |
| 27 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 47.074 | — |
| 28 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.081 | — |
| 29 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 47.095 | — |
| 30 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 47.144 | — |
| 31 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.398 | — |
| 32 | 51 | Justin Marks (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 47.464 | — |
| 33 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 47.675 | — |
| 34 | 96 | D. J. Kennington | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 47.848 | — |
| 35 | 00 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 47.866 | — |
| 36 | 92 | David Gilliland (i) | RBR Enterprises | Ford | 47.884 | — |
| 37 | 66 | Mark Thompson | MBM Motorsports | Ford | 48.267 | — |
| 38 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 48.372 | — |
| 39 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 0.000 | — |
| 40 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 0.000 | — |
| Official qualifying results |||||||

## Duels
### Duel 1
#### Duel 1 results

| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 63 | 10 |
| 2 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 63 | 9 |
| 3 | 13 | 43 | Bubba Wallace (R) | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 63 | 8 |
| 4 | 5 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 63 | 7 |
| 5 | 9 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 63 | 6 |
| 6 | 11 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | 5 |
| 7 | 20 | 38 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 63 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | 19 | Daniel Suárez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 63 | 3 |
| 9 | 12 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | 2 |
| 10 | 15 | 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | 1 |
| 11 | 14 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 |
| 12 | 16 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 |
| 13 | 18 | 00 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 |
| 14 | 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 |
| 15 | 17 | 51 | Justin Marks (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 |
| 16 | 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 57 | 0 |
| 17 | 19 | 92 | David Gilliland (i) | RBR Enterprises | Ford | 47 | 0 |
| 18 | 3 | 24 | William Byron (R) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 38 | 0 |
| 19 | 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 | 0 |
| 20 | 7 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 8 | 0 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Duel 2
#### Duel 2 results

| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 10 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 60 | 9 |
| 3 | 3 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 60 | 8 |
| 4 | 8 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 60 | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 60 | 6 |
| 6 | 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 5 |
| 7 | 6 | 21 | Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 60 | 4 |
| 8 | 10 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 60 | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 60 | 2 |
| 10 | 15 | 47 | A. J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 1 |
| 11 | 12 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 60 | 0 |
| 12 | 13 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 60 | 0 |
| 13 | 9 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 14 | 14 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 15 | 17 | 96 | D. J. Kennington | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 58 | 0 |
| 16 | 19 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 58 | 0 |
| 17 | 20 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 55 | 0 |
| 18 | 18 | 66 | Mark Thompson | MBM Motorsports | Ford | 32 | 0 |
| 19 | 16 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 11 | 0 |
| 20 | 11 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 11 | 0 |
| Official race results ||||||||

## Media
### Television

FS1 :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip | Jamie Little Regan Smith Vince Welch Matt Yocum |

### Radio

MRN Radio :
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Joe Moore Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace | Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Backstretch: Mike Bagley Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey | Alex Hayden Winston Kelley Steve Post |