{"id":21388,"date":"2017-02-24T10:29:38","date_gmt":"2017-02-24T15:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=21388"},"modified":"2017-02-24T10:30:31","modified_gmt":"2017-02-24T15:30:31","slug":"chase-elliott-denny-hamlin-win-can-am-duel-races-at-daytona-international-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2017\/02\/chase-elliott-denny-hamlin-win-can-am-duel-races-at-daytona-international-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin Win Can-Am Duel Races at Daytona International Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin Win Can-Am Duel Races at Daytona International Speedway<\/strong>
\n\u00b7 NextEra Energy Resources 250 Set for Friday Night<\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2017) \u2013 Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin won the Can-Am Duel races on Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway, as the starting grid for Sunday\u2019s 59th annual DAYTONA 500 was established by the two 150-mile qualifying events.<\/p>\n

For the first time since 1971, drivers in the Can-Am Duel earned Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship points for their efforts \u2013 the top-10 finishers in each race, to be exact. Drivers responded to that new situation by staging all-out battles in both 60-lappers. There was no indication of drivers playing it safe and looking ahead to the DAYTONA 500.
\n <\/p>\n

That flat-out mindset was personified by Elliott in the No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. He started on the pole of the first Can-Am Duel race after posting the fastest speed last Sunday during DAYTONA 500 Qualifying Presented By Kroger \u2013 which also locked him into the pole position for the DAYTONA 500. Elliott led a total of 25 laps including the last 24 in dominating style.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great way to start the season,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cI know this is just a Duel win and obviously I wish this was Sunday \u2026 but it still means a lot to me and it means a lot to our team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some big steam under the hood which was a huge factor in keeping us out front. I\u2019m glad we were able to race and stay aggressive and battle those guys. Hopefully we can dial it in a little better on Sunday and give it another shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, had the pole for the second Can-Am Duel race after qualifying second behind Elliott last Sunday \u2013 which locked him into the DAYTONA 500 outside pole. Earnhardt led 53 of 60 laps but was passed by Hamlin in Turn 3 on Lap 59 and came home sixth. Hamlin got invaluable drafting help from a trailing Austin Dillon, using the momentum to zip by Earnhardt on the outside.<\/p>\n

Hamlin \u2013 the defending DAYTONA 500 champion \u2013 will start the No. 11 FedEx Toyota behind Earnhardt on Sunday in the fourth position, thanks to his Can-Am Duel victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a great car and we got a great push from Austin,\u201d Hamlin said. \u201c[Earnhardt] thought I was going one way and I went the other. I\u2019m not sure what this means or what this says [about our DAYTONA 500 chances] but overall, pretty happy with the result.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two drivers from each Can-Am Duel race \u2013 part of a group of six \u201cOpen\u201d entries who came to Speedweeks without guaranteed spots in the DAYTONA 500 field \u2013 \u201craced their way\u201d into the big show via their Duel race result. (Thirty-six drivers were guaranteed spots via their status as NASCAR \u201cCharter\u201d entries.) From the first Can-Am Duel race, it was Corey LaJoie; from the second race, it was DJ Kennington.<\/p>\n

Friday night at 7:30, the NextEra Energy Resources 250 will open the season for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Qualifying for the event will be at 4:30 p.m. There was one practice session for the trucks on Thursday, with rookie Chase Briscoe posting the fastest lap \u2013 192.980 mph \u2013 in the No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford \u2013 owned by Brad Keselowski Racing.<\/p>\n

Also Friday, two practice sessions will be held for both the DAYTONA 500 and the 59th annual PowerShares QQQ 300, Saturday\u2019s season-opening race for the NASCAR XFINITY Series.<\/p>\n

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS \u2013 Race Winner<\/strong>
\nLAST YEAR, YOU ALMOST BEAT YOURSELF UP TOO MUCH OVER WHAT HAPPENED ON THE RACE TRACK DURING YOUR ROOKIE SEASON. WHERE DID YOU IMPROVE THE MOST THAT IT SHOWED TONIGHT?
\n\u201cOh, man we had such a fast NAPA Chevy tonight. I didn\u2019t think anybody was going to help us there at the first part of the race and I had a couple good pushes to get us out front and our spotter did a great job on the roof making sure he was calling the lanes correctly and we were able to get back in front. Just want to thank our partners and the Hendrick engine shop. They had some steam tonight at it was apparent.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALAN GUSTAFSON (CREW CHIEF) NEVER MENTIONED POINTS. IT WAS ALWAYS SAVE THE CAR. THERE\u2019S A LOT OF RISK VERSUS REWARD, BUT YOU EARNED SOME GOOD POINTS LOOKING AT THE BIGGER PICTURE.
\n\u201cYeah, to be honest with you, we weren\u2019t even thinking about that. So, that\u2019s great. I\u2019m excited about that. But really, I\u2019m just more excited about how this thing ran tonight and keeping it in one piece. It\u2019s a great way to start the season for us. I know it\u2019s just a Duel win and it doesn\u2019t count towards a win in the playoffs, but it still means a lot to me and it means a lot to our team. And like I said, this is a great way to start the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 CESSNA MCDONALD\u2019S CHEVROLET SS \u2013 Finished 2nd
\nYOU FINISHED 2ND AND YOU TOLD THE GUYS THIS CAR IS A LOT BETTER THAN THE CLASH CAR. WHAT, TO YOU, MAKES A GOOD DAYTONA 500 CAR?
\n\u201cWell, our Cessna\/McDonald\u2019s Chevy sucked-up really well. I went home (after the Clash race) and watched a lot of video on Monday, of some of the cars I thought were really good, to see how they were getting runs and how they were doing restarts. And, this car just had a little more speed in it and was able to suck-up a lot better than our other car. The balance was a little bit better. Obviously running at night helps some of that. But, I don\u2019t know. When you have a bad car, when you get hung out, you go to the back or you go to the mid-pack. And I got hung out a couple of times and I was able to maintain and come back in at around fifth. So, it\u2019s a really good car. I\u2019m proud of our guys and glad that it\u2019s still in one piece and we can go back and watch now.\u201d<\/p>\n

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET SS \u2013 Finished 6th:<\/strong>
\nYOU LED 53 LAPS AND ENDED UP 6TH. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY IF THIS WERE THE DAYTONA 500?
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know what I could have done differently to defend that. Once I heard the No. 3 (Austin Dillon) was clear on the outside, I knew they was going to have a big run. Denny (Hamlin, race winner) is so smart and he knows what he\u2019s doing out there. He\u2019s one of the better plate racers out there. Any whichway I would have went, he was going to go the other way and probably get by me. I was hoping Austin might push us a little bit since he drives a Chevy; but I don\u2019t know if I would have done it any different than he did, either. Congratulations to Denny.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just had a good run at the end. I was doing what I could to keep the lead, but once they got clear of that inside lane they built so much momentum real fast right there at the end of that back straightaway, and had such a big run.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was the Daytona 500, same thing. There ain\u2019t much you can do about that. It\u2019s not really defendable. So, it\u2019s a good job by Denny and those guys putting it all together at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin Win Can-Am Duel Races at Daytona International Speedway \u00b7 NextEra Energy Resources 250 Set for Friday Night DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2017) \u2013 Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin won the Can-Am Duel races on Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway, as the starting grid for Sunday\u2019s 59th annual DAYTONA 500 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21388"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21390,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21388\/revisions\/21390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}