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 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 .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 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 Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 15 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 60 102 11 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 93 5 10 Ty Dillon Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 60 84 19 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 60 75 14 45 Tyler Reddick 23XI Racing Toyota 60 66 10 16 A. J. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 60 57 4 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 48 8 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 39 17 40 Justin Allgaier (i) JR Motorsports Chevrolet 60 010 7 8 Kyle Busch Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 111 13 54 Ty Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 012 9 71 Michael McDowell Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 60 013 2 60 Ryan Preece RFK Racing Ford 60 014 3 21 Josh Berry Wood Brothers Racing Ford 60 015 12 56 Martin Truex Jr. Tricon Garage Toyota 60 016 21 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet 60 017 23 44 J. J. Yeley (i) NY Racing Team Chevrolet 60 018 18 77 Carson Hocevar Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 60 019 1 19 Chase Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 26 020 22 66 Chandler Smith (i) Garage 66 Ford 13 021 16 7 Justin Haley Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 13 022 20 91 Hélio Castroneves (i) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 13 023 6 38 Zane Smith Front Row Motorsports Ford 6 0Official 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 Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 1 2 Austin Cindric Team Penske Ford 60 102 18 43 Erik Jones Legacy Motor Club Toyota 60 93 9 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 60 84 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 75 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 60 66 17 01 Corey LaJoie Rick Ware Racing Ford 60 57 7 34 Todd Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 48 10 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 60 39 19 42 John Hunter Nemechek Legacy Motor Club Toyota 60 210 4 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 111 5 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 012 13 35 Riley Herbst (R) 23XI Racing Toyota 60 013 20 62 Anthony Alfredo (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 60 014 15 88 Shane van Gisbergen (R) Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 60 015 22 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 60 016 16 41 Cole Custer Haas Factory Team Ford 60 017 21 78 B. J. McLeod Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 60 018 11 4 Noah Gragson Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 019 14 84 Jimmie Johnson Legacy Motor Club Toyota 60 020 8 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 48 021 12 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet 47 022 6 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 47 0Official race results
Media
Television FS1Booth announcersPit reportersIn-race analyst Lap-by-lap: Mike JoyColor-commentator: Clint BowyerColor-commentator: Kevin Harvick Jamie LittleRegan Smith Larry McReynolds
Radio MRN RadioBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Alex HaydenAnnouncer: Mike BagleyAnnouncer: Rusty Wallace Turns 1 & 2: Dave MoodyBackstretch: Kyle RickeyTurns 3 & 4: Tim Catalfamo Steve PostChris WilnerAlan Cavanna
References