Brad Keselowski is the winner of the first Duel at Daytona, while Kaz Grala gets a Daytona 500 spot.
After the front row of the 2022 Daytona 500 was determined on Wednesday, the rest of the grid of The Great American Race was set to be formed in two 150-mile Duel races.
Duel 1 determined what the inside lane of Sunday’s race starting grid would look like. The Daytona 500 pole winner Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag.
Larson had a good start and remained the leader. William Byron and Chase Elliott followed him. Eventually, Ross Chastain got momentum and challenged Larson for the lead, but the Hendrick Motorsports driver remained upfront.
The leading pack of cars went single file eight laps into the Duel. Halfway through the race, the top 3 remained the same.
After 34 laps of racing, the pit stop cycle started. The Chevrolet cars were the first to pit. A lap later, the majority of Fords did the same. The field was shaken up as Ryan Blaney became the new leader. He was ahead of Brad Keselowski and Chase Briscoe.
Keselowski wanted to get to the lead and was bump-drafting Blaney for a long time. Finally, he got the top spot with 4 laps to go. Blaney did not give up and tried to come back to P1. However, he not only failed to pass Keselowski but also lost a position to his teammate Austin Cindric at the finish. Meanwhile, Keselowski won the Duel.
Kaz Grala made a pass on JJ Yeley on the final lap of the Duel to clinch a Daytona 500 spot.
The top 10 of Duel 1 at Daytona:
Pos. | Car no. | Driver | Team |
1 | #6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing |
2 | #2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske |
3 | #12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske |
4 | #14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing |
5 | #9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports |
6 | #43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports |
7 | #5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports |
8 | #8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing |
9 | #45 | Kurt Busch | 23XI Racing |
10 | #1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing |