# 2025 The Duel at Daytona

The 2025 The Duel at Daytona were a pair of NASCAR Cup Series stock car races that was held on February 13, 2025, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both were contested over 60 laps, they were the qualifying races for the 2025 Daytona 500.

## Report
### Background

Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (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

Chase Briscoe scored the pole for the race with a time of 49.249 and a speed of 182.745 mph (294.100 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | R1 | R2 |
| 1 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 49.218 | 49.249 |
| 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 49.370 | 49.325 |
| 3 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 49.356 | 49.335 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 49.401 | 49.358 |
| 5 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 49.484 | 49.376 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 49.496 | 49.413 |
| 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 49.487 | 49.444 |
| 8 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 49.492 | 49.465 |
| 9 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 49.460 | 49.466 |
| 10 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.504 | 49.522 |
| 11 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 49.505 | — |
| 12 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.506 | — |
| 13 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 49.507 | — |
| 14 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 49.535 | — |
| 15 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.538 | — |
| 16 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 49.545 | — |
| 17 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.571 | — |
| 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 49.573 | — |
| 19 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 49.616 | — |
| 20 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 49.630 | — |
| 21 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.636 | — |
| 22 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 49.641 | — |
| 23 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 49.660 | — |
| 24 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 49.695 | — |
| 25 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 49.742 | — |
| 26 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 49.744 | — |
| 27 | 35 | Riley Herbst (R) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 49.770 | — |
| 28 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 49.783 | — |
| 29 | 84 | Jimmie Johnson | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 49.783 | — |
| 30 | 88 | Shane van Gisbergen (R) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 49.789 | — |
| 31 | 7 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.825 | — |
| 32 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 49.830 | — |
| 33 | 40 | Justin Allgaier (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.863 | — |
| 34 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 49.865 | — |
| 35 | 01 | Corey LaJoie | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 49.879 | — |
| 36 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 49.912 | — |
| 37 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 49.997 | — |
| 38 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 50.025 | — |
| 39 | 91 | Hélio Castroneves (i) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 50.062 | — |
| 40 | 62 | Anthony Alfredo (i) | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.090 | — |
| 41 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.148 | — |
| 42 | 66 | Chandler Smith (i) | Garage 66 | Ford | 50.351 | — |
| 43 | 78 | B. J. McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 50.626 | — |
| 44 | 44 | J. J. Yeley (i) | NY Racing Team | Chevrolet | 51.055 | — |
| 45 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 51.835 | — |
| Official qualifying results |||||||

## Duels
### Duel 1

In the first duel, Justin Allgaier advanced to the race as the top finishing open car (excluding Martin Truex Jr., as the top open car in time trial qualifying), while Hélio Castroneves also advanced as an Open Exemption Provisional (OEP) competitor.

#### Duel 1 results

| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 15 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 60 | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 7 |
| 5 | 14 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 60 | 6 |
| 6 | 10 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 5 |
| 7 | 4 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 4 |
| 8 | 8 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 3 |
| 9 | 17 | 40 | Justin Allgaier (i) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 10 | 7 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 1 |
| 11 | 13 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 60 | 0 |
| 12 | 9 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 13 | 2 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 60 | 0 |
| 14 | 3 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 60 | 0 |
| 15 | 12 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Tricon Garage | Toyota | 60 | 0 |
| 16 | 21 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 17 | 23 | 44 | J. J. Yeley (i) | NY Racing Team | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 18 | 18 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 19 | 1 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 26 | 0 |
| 20 | 22 | 66 | Chandler Smith (i) | Garage 66 | Ford | 13 | 0 |
| 21 | 16 | 7 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 13 | 0 |
| 22 | 20 | 91 | Hélio Castroneves (i) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 13 | 0 |
| 23 | 6 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 6 | 0 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Duel 2

Erik Jones appeared to have won the second duel with gap time of 0.004 seconds. However, a caution was called just few feet away from finish line. As NASCAR ruled that Cindric was still in the lead at the time of the caution being called with only few inches gap between him and Jones, Cindric was determined to be the winner. This call did not affect the starting grid, as Cindric was already the outside polesitter.
Corey LaJoie advanced as the top open car in the second duel, with Jimmie Johnson also advancing as the second-fastest open car during time trial qualifying.

#### Duel 2 results

| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 1 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 60 | 10 |
| 2 | 18 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 60 | 9 |
| 3 | 9 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 60 | 8 |
| 4 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 60 | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 60 | 6 |
| 6 | 17 | 01 | Corey LaJoie | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 60 | 5 |
| 7 | 7 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 60 | 4 |
| 8 | 10 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 60 | 3 |
| 9 | 19 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 60 | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 60 | 1 |
| 11 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 12 | 13 | 35 | Riley Herbst (R) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 60 | 0 |
| 13 | 20 | 62 | Anthony Alfredo (i) | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 14 | 15 | 88 | Shane van Gisbergen (R) | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 15 | 22 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 60 | 0 |
| 16 | 16 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Ford | 60 | 0 |
| 17 | 21 | 78 | B. J. McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | 0 |
| 18 | 11 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 60 | 0 |
| 19 | 14 | 84 | Jimmie Johnson | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 60 | 0 |
| 20 | 8 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 48 | 0 |
| 21 | 12 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 47 | 0 |
| 22 | 6 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47 | 0 |
| Official race results ||||||||

## Media
### Television

FS1 :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analyst |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Clint Bowyer Color-commentator: Kevin Harvick | Jamie Little Regan Smith | Larry McReynolds |

### Radio

MRN Radio :
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Mike Bagley Announcer: Rusty Wallace | Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Backstretch: Kyle Rickey Turns 3 & 4: Tim Catalfamo | Steve Post Chris Wilner Alan Cavanna |