DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Recap by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Matt Sullivan/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Amelia Earhart took flight Thursday evening and soared away from the rest of the field, rolling to a dominating victory in the first Can-Am Duel at Daytona International Speedway and earning a second row starting spot for Sunday’s 58th annual Daytona 500.
Not the lost pilot, mind you, but Earnhardt’s No. 88 Nationwide Insurance Chevrolet SS — affectionately nicknamed “Amelia” in honor of the aviation pioneer.
Earnhardt powered around the inside of Sprint Unlimited winner Denny Hamlin’s Toyota entering the tri-oval with five laps remaining and led the balance of the 150-mile qualifier, winning his fifth career Duel on the 15th anniversary of his father — Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s — death at DIS on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
That made the night poignant, as well as extremely special, admitted the perennial Most Popular Driver and peer-proclaimed ‘Pied Piper’ of the draft.
“It’s real special,” Earnhardt admitted. “I try not to make too big a deal, but I was thinking about that. I’m guilty of daydreaming a bit about winning this race tonight because of the date. That’s very special to me, and I was glad that nothing bad happened and we didn’t tear our car up, because that would have been embarrassing on a day like this.”
(Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images for NASCAR photo)
The win was Earnhardt’s 17th overall victory at Daytona and marked the 51st time that an Earnhardt rolled into Gatorade Victory Lane at the World Center of Racing.
“We know this is a real good car and this car won the 150 last year, too,” Earnhardt said. “The Earnhardts keep adding to the legacy here. We’re up here in the 50s now, and it was a fun one tonight. Nothing too crazy. There were some really, really good guys out there, though. [Defending 500 winner] Joey Logano is always tough. It’s getting harder and harder to hold them off.”
Elliott led the opening two laps from the pole, but ceded the point quickly to Earnhardt the third time by the start-finish line. As Elliott dropped back to conserve his race car, falling to 15th by the one-third mark at lap 20, Earnhardt held off a single-file freight train — led by the Team Penske duo of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano — all the way through the halfway point of the race before the pack began to form again by the 31st circuit.
Just as the halfway point hit, lead ‘Open’ car Ryan Blaney had to drop to pit road with a severe vibration on his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire and Auto Centers Ford, later diagnosed as a loose left rear wheel. Blaney lost a lap due to the unscheduled stop for service, but would gain it back (via the free pass) when the race’s only caution flag flew with 17 laps to go for a spinning Cole Whitt.
The lap before the caution had seen Hamlin cycle through to the lead after pit stops, and he would hold the point for seven laps after the restart with 12 to go before Earnhardt came calling to take over the point for good.
The win didn’t come easy though, with the Fords of Logano and a charging Blaney coming through the pack to make a last-gasp effort to take it away. Earnhardt, however, was unfazed as he threw every trick in the book at the duo to keep them behind him.
“I knew how important it was to keep the lead, so I did everything I could,” Earnhardt said. “I had to get aggressive with the blocking. Nothing too crazy, though, and I’m glad it didn’t have to get that way.”
“This car is something special and I was so nervous today about tearing it up,” he added. “I told [team owner] Rick [Hendrick] this is one he might want to keep track of to put in the museum one day because it’s done some good things.”
Logano came home as the runner-up, and said he wasn’t sure what else he could have done to get past one of the most dominant superspeedway cars in recent memory.
“I don’t know [what to do],” Logano laughed. “I can’t beat him (Earnhardt) right now! He’s just so good. He’s a great speedway racer, he’s got a great car behind him and congrats to him [on the win].”
“It was a really fun run down to the end, with ducking down and trying to pull that bottom lane up. It worked out well, we just need a little bit more to be able to get up and pass him. Ryan gave me a great push at the end and I almost had enough to get to the outside of Dale, but it died out and that was that. Just gotta figure out how to get [to the lead on Sunday], and then I think we’re plenty fast enough to be able to stay there.”
Blaney finished third to officially lock himself in on finishing position for the Wood Brothers, after already having been assured of a starting position entering the race based on his qualifying speed. The 22 year old will roll off from seventh on the grid come Sunday afternoon.
“I was trying some timed runs there late in the race – that’s a big thing to help the guy behind you help the guy in front of you to get a run on the leader,” said Blaney. “We knew we were locked in before, but it’s nice to know we raced our way in. Luckily we got a caution at the right point to get back on the lead lap where we could go racing for it.”
“It was a good recovery. We had some issues early in the race, but we made some good ground at the end and that’s what counts. We know we have a fast car and now it’s time to move on to Sunday.”
Kevin Harvick and Hamlin rounded out the top five in the race, while Michael McDowell finished 14th and became the beneficiary of Blaney’s outstanding comeback.
By virtue of the High Point, N.C. young gun racing his way in, McDowell became a guaranteed starter in Sunday’s 500 field by virtue of his qualifying time from Sunday afternoon.
(Getty Images for NASCAR photo)
“I was right in the middle of it and I’m so excited for everybody to get this Chevrolet into the race,” McDowell said. “I can’t tell you what it means to get this car into the Daytona 500. It was nerve-wracking, for sure, and not easy by any means. That’s pretty much how it goes here, though — you have a plan, you make a plan and then it all changes when you get out there. Tonight was no different than that, and I’m blessed that we were able to do what we did and make the race again.”
Brian Scott spun out of the pack coming off turn four to the checkered flag and pounded the inside SAFER Barrier as a result. Scott will move to a backup car and drop to the rear of Sunday’s Daytona 500 field prior to the green.
The second Can-Am Duel at Daytona gets underway at approximately 9 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FOX, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
RESULTS: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; Can-Am Duel No. 1; Daytona International Speedway; Feb. 18, 2016
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Ryan Blaney (Locked in — On Finish)
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Chase Elliott
- Kasey Kahne
- Greg Biffle
- Chris Buescher
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Austin Dillon
- Trevor Bayne
- Brad Keselowski
- Michael McDowell (Locked in — On Speed)
- Regan Smith
- David Ragan
- Josh Wise
- Clint Bowyer
- Bobby Labonte
- Brian Scott
- Paul Menard
- Cole Whitt
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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