DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Chase Elliott won the second Daytona 500 qualifying race Thursday night and Anthony Alfredo claimed the last spot in the starting field for “The Great American Race.”
Joey Logano took the first race and Casey Mears earned the transfer spot up for grabs in that duel. It was the fourth victory in a Daytona 500 qualifying race for Logano, a three-time NASCAR champion who won main event in 2015.
Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR champion, will start on the second row alongside Logano on Sunday in the season-opener. Elliott has won the qualifying three times now.
“Felt good to get the blood pumping,” Elliott said. “It's nice to get a win but it's not the 500. I've been here before.”
The four drivers who failed to qualify for the 41-car field were Corey LaJoie, B.J. McLeod, Chandler Smith and JJ Yeley. Two spots were earned in Wednesday night's time trials and went to Justin Allgaier and Corey Heim.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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