Thursday’s lineup set for Thursday’s NASCAR Can-Am Duels
By Ted Fleming
The field and starting positions for Daytona 500 will be set following the Duels at Daytona International Speedway Thursday evening.
Sunday’s qualifying set the front row for the Daytona 500 with Chase Elliott starting on pole and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. next to him. It also ensured two of the six “open” cars, driven by Brendan Gaughan and Elliott Sadler, of making the Great American Race before Thursday’s Can-Am Duels.
Open cars are those who do not own a NASCAR Charter and must either do what Gaughan and Sadler did being the fastest two in qualifying, or race in during the Duels. For the remaining 34 Charter teams, it is all about starting position and pit stall selection.
Thursday evening (7:00 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) the annual Duels at Daytona take place with the odd number qualifiers from Sunday, first, third, fifth and so on, facing each other in the first race while the even numbers go in the second.
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Even though Elliott and Earnhardt have locked in their starting spots, they will still race on Thursday and will start on the pole in each Duel. Here is how they will line up for each race:
DUEL 1
1 – Chase Elliott
2 – Brad Keselowski
3 – Martin Truex Jr.
4 – Kevin Harvick
5 – Matt Kenseth
6 – Kyle Busch
7 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8 – Daniel Suarez
9 – Joey Logano
10 – Trevor Bayne
11 – Paul Menard
12 – Jamie McMurray
13 – Aric Almirola
14 – Landon Cassill
15 – Matt DiBenedetto
16 – Chris Buescher
17 – Brendan Gaughan
18 – Cole Whitt
19 – Reed Sorenson
20 – Joey Gase
21 – Corey Lajoie
DUEL 2
1 – Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2 – Clint Bowyer
3 – Denny Hamlin
4 – Kasey Kahne
5 – Ryan Newman
6 – Ty Dillon
7 – Jimmie Johnson
8 – Kyle Larson
9 – Ryan Blaney
10 – Erik Jones
11 – Kurt Busch
12 – Danica Patrick
13 – Austin Dillon
14 – AJ Allmendinger
15 – Michael McDowell
16 – David Ragan
17 – Michael Waltrip
18 – Elliott Sadler
19 – DJ Kennington
20 – Jeffrey Earnhardt
21 – Timmy Hill
NOTE: Sorenson, Lajoie (Duel 1), Kennington and Hill (Duel 2) are the four remaining “open” drivers that need to race their way in with only two slots available.