Toyota Turnout: Reddick and Bell win Daytona Duels
Despite not having a driver in the final round of Daytona 500 qualifying, Toyota swept the Duel qualifying races Thursday night.
Tyler Reddick won the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel. Then, Christopher Bell won the second Duel at Daytona International Speedway.
In both races, Reddick and Bell led exactly one lap.
“That was all luck, Adam!” Bell exclaimed after he crossed the start-finish line.
“A good first outing for us on the speedway,” Reddick said. “Certainly, I’ve got to clean up some mistakes. I can’t seem to still hit pit road without hitting something, but hey we still won.”
During green flag pit stops in his Duel race, Reddick tried going from the outside lane to the inside lane to pit. As he tapped the brake pedal, Toyota teammate Martin Truex Jr. bumped into him, causing Reddick to nearly spin.
Reddick made it to pit road safely with Toyota newcomer Jimmie Johnson. Johnson raced his way into the Daytona 500 with a last-lap pass on J.J. Yeley.
“The way things worked out, I found myself at the tail end of the two lines,” Johnson said. “…I just had to pick the opposite lane and ‘Days of Thunder’ action.”
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In the second Duel race, Christopher Bell made a last-lap pass on Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin to capture the checkered flag – which a fan wearing a Christopher Bell T-shirt in the stands received.
“This place is something else,” Bell said. “It will chew you up and spit you out faster than you can imagine. It feels good to finally do it right here.”
Toyota drivers combined to lead 20 of 60 laps in Duel 1 between Martin Truex Jr. (14 laps), Erik Jones (5 laps) and Reddick (1 lap).
In Duel 2, Toyota drivers combined to lead 27 of 60 laps between Bubba Wallace (21 laps), Denny Hamlin (5 laps) and Bell (1 lap).
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday
- Practice: 5:35 p.m. ET; FS1, MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio; 50 minutes
Saturday
- Practice: 10:30 a.m. ET; FS1, MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio; 50 minutes
Sunday
- 66th annual Daytona 500: 2:30 p.m. ET; FOX, MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio; 200 laps (Stages end on laps 65/130/200)
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.