2017 Can-Am Duels Explained

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2017 Can-Am Duels
Headerstyle:background:#efefef
Header1:Race details[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Label2:Date
Label3:Location
Data3:Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Label4:Course
Data4:Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4 km)
Label5:Distance
Data5:Race 1:
60 laps, 150 mi (240 km)
Race 2:
60 laps, 150 mi (240 km)
Label6:Avg Speed
Data6:Race 1:
160.095mph
Race 2:
156.977mph
Label7:Weather
Header10:Race 1
Label11:Pole position
Data11:Chase Elliott
Label12:Most laps led
Data12:Brad Keselowski (28)
Label13:Winner
Data13:Chase Elliott
Header14:Race 2
Label16:Pole position
Data16:Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Label17:Most laps led
Data17:Dale Earnhardt Jr. (53)
Label19:Winner
Data19:Denny Hamlin
Header20:Television
Label21:Network
Data21:FS1 & MRN
Label22:Announcers
Data22:Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip (Television)
Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace (Booth)
Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio)
Label23:Nielsen Ratings

The 2017 Can-Am Duels were a pair of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car races held on February 23, 2017, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both contested over 60 laps, they were the qualifying races for the 2017 Daytona 500.

Report

Background

Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four–turn superspeedway that is 2.5miles long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

Practice

First practice

Joey Logano was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.604 seconds and a speed of 193.116mph.[8]

PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime
122 46.604 193.116
243 46.619 193.054
32 46.621 193.046
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Chase Elliott scored the pole for the Daytona 500 with a time of 46.663 and a speed of 192.872mph.[9] He said afterwards that everyone at Hendrick Motorsports did "a lot of work this off-season. This team definitely has a knack for these plate tracks, as they showed with Jeff Gordon and then last year with here and Talladega." He also mentioned how these accomplishments don't "just happen by staying the same, as everybody knows. Everyone is always trying to get better and make their cars better and faster, and the engine shop is always finding new things. So I think that's just proof that they're improving with everybody else and taking that next step, which is really impressive." He ended by saying he was "happy to be a part of it, and hopefully we can run good next Sunday."[10]

Qualifying results

PosDriverTeamManufacturer
124 Chevrolet 46.800 46.663
288 Chevrolet 46.810 46.665
32 Ford 46.820 46.707
414 Ford 46.854 46.736
578 Toyota 46.826 46.800
611 Toyota 46.845 46.823
74 Ford 46.867 46.829
85 Chevrolet 46.864 46.853
920 Toyota 46.840 46.871
1031 Chevrolet 46.859 46.876
1118 Toyota 46.855 46.932
1213 Ty Dillon (R) Chevrolet 46.869 47.009
1317 Ford 46.874
1448 Chevrolet 46.900
1519 Daniel Suárez (R) Toyota 46.905
1642 Chevrolet 46.923
1722 Ford 46.929
1821 Ford 46.937
196 Ford 46.944
2077 Erik Jones (R) Toyota 46.950
2127 Chevrolet 46.989
2241 Ford 47.017
231 Chevrolet 47.023
2410 Ford 47.042
2543 Ford 47.123
263 Chevrolet 47.127
2734 Ford 47.285
2847 Chevrolet 47.298
2932 Ford 47.355
3095 Chevrolet 47.438
3137 Chevrolet 47.513
3238 Ford 47.518
3375 Brendan Gaughan (i) Chevrolet 47.545
3472 Ford 47.592
3515 Toyota 47.599
367 Elliott Sadler (i) Chevrolet 47.730
3755 Toyota 48.043
3896 Toyota 48.175
3923 Joey Gase (i) Toyota 48.428
4083 Corey LaJoie (R) Toyota 48.584
4133 Chevrolet 48.710
4251 Timmy Hill (i) Chevrolet 48.886
Official Qualifying Results

Practice (post–Qualifying)

Both practice sessions scheduled for Thursday following qualifying was cancelled due to rain.

Duels

Duel 1

First half

Chase Elliott led the field to the green flag at 7:19 p.m. He side-drafted Brad Keselowski on the backstretch to jump in front and lead the first lap. Keselowski dove under him in Turn 2 to take the lead the following lap. While he was leading, teammate Joey Logano made an unscheduled stop on lap 12 for a flat tire and rejoined a lap down. Kyle Busch took the lead as the first caution of the race, a scheduled competition caution due to rain showers, flew on lap 25. Everyone pitted under the caution and Busch retained the lead. Matt DiBenedetto restarted from the tail-end of the field for speeding on pit road.

Second half

The race restarted on lap 31. When the field reached the backstretch, Keselowski powered by Busch on the outside lane to take back the lead. Elliott dove inside Keselowski in Turn 2 to retake the lead on lap 37. The second caution flew with 12 laps to go for a two-car wreck on the frontstretch. Coming through the tri-oval heading towards Turn 1, Corey LaJoie rear-ended Reed Sorenson, who checked up, turning Sorenson down into Paul Menard, sending Sorenson down the track and into the inside retaining wall.[11] Sorenson, who missed the race as a result of this wreck, said he guessed LaJoie "felt like he did what he had to do to make the race. I hope he's proud of that part of it. There's a lot of pressure going in to making this race. It's a very big deal for a small team like ours."[12] Sorenson went on to finish last.[13]

The race restarted with eight laps to go. The Fords of Kevin Harvick and Keselowski formed a line on the top side to make a charge at Elliott. The line started stalling out with five laps to go and Elliott drove on to score the victory, only challenged by Harvick and Jamie McMurray.[14]

Duel 1 results

PosGridDriverTeamManufacturerLapsPoints
1 1 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 10
2 12 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 60 9
3 4 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 8
4 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 60 7
5 5 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 6
6 10 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 5
7 13 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 60 4
8 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 60 3
9 18 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Ford 60 2
10 8 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 1
11 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 0
12 7 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 0
13 15 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 60 0
14 14 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 0
15 20 23 Joey Gase (i) BK Racing Toyota 60 0
16 21 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 60 0
17 17 75 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 60 0
18 11 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 59 0
19 19 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 48 0
20 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 60 0
21 16 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 60 0
Official race results

Duel 2

First half

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the field to the green flag at 8:51 p.m. He and Denny Hamlin raced side-by-side for the lead for five laps before the field settled into a single-file train running against the wall. The race flow was broken up by the lap 26 competition caution, also scheduled due to earlier rain showers. Everyone pitted under the caution and Ryan Blaney exited pit road with the race lead. Hamlin (speeding) and Elliott Sadler (driving through too many pit boxes) restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.[15]

Second half

The race restarted on lap 31 and Earnhardt wasted little time taking the lead back from Blaney. Unlike the first Duel race, this race was more calm and reserved. Action started picking up with 18 laps to go when Jimmie Johnson made contact with Blaney on the backstretch, forcing Blaney into the outside wall.[16] Five laps later, Johnson suffered a right-side tire blowout on the backstretch and slammed the wall in Turn 3, bringing out the second caution.[17]

The race restarted with nine to go. On the final lap, Hamlin received a push from Austin Dillon, faked Earnhardt out on the backstretch and passed him going into Turn 3 to win the second Duel race.[18]

Duel 2 results

PosGridDriverTeamManufacturerLapsPoints
1 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 10
2 2 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 9
3 11 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 8
4 13 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 7
5 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 6
6 12 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 5
7 5 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 4
8 8 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 60 3
9 6 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 60 2
10 16 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 1
11 15 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 60 0
12 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 0
13 4 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 0
14 19 96 D. J. Kennington Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 60 0
15 18 7 Elliott Sadler (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 60 0
16 17 15 Michael Waltrip Premium Motorsports Toyota 60 0
17 20 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 60 0
18 10 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 59 0
19 9 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 55 0
20 21 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 29 0
21 14 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 60 0
Official race results

Media

Radio

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2017 Cup Series schedule. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2016. Jayski.com. February 13, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170204004251/http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/2017-NASCAR-Cup-Schedule. February 4, 2017. dead.
  2. Web site: Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. January 3, 2013. NASCAR.com. February 13, 2017. April 27, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150427071157/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/schedule/tracks/daytona-international-speedway.html. dead.
  3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 15, 2017. February 15, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170217223841/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&YearID=46&RaceID=7576&StatType=Entry+List. February 17, 2017. dead.
  4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 19, 2017. February 18, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170220095510/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/02/Daytona-500-1st-Practice-Speeds.aspx. February 20, 2017. dead.
  5. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 20, 2017. February 19, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170221010347/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/02/Daytona-500-Qualifying-Results.aspx. February 21, 2017. dead.
  6. Web site: Duel Race 1 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 23, 2017. February 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170224132029/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&RaceID=7575&YearID=46&StatType=Race+Results. February 24, 2017. dead.
  7. Web site: Duel Race 2 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 23, 2017. February 23, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170309022715/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?RaceID=7819&SubSeriesID=1&YearID=46. March 9, 2017. dead.
  8. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Logano and Ford top Daytona 500 qualifying practice. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. February 19, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. February 18, 2017.
  9. News: Gelston. Dan. Elliott nips Earnhardt to win 2nd straight Daytona 500 pole. February 19, 2017. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. February 19, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. https://web.archive.org/web/20170221010359/http://racing.ap.org/article/elliott-nips-earnhardt-win-2nd-straight-daytona-500-pole. February 21, 2017. dead.
  10. Web site: Spencer. Reid. Chase Elliott captures back-to-back Daytona 500 poles. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Wire Service. February 20, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. February 19, 2017.
  11. Web site: Bromberg. Nick. Nick Bromberg. Corey LaJoie crashes Reed Sorenson out of the Daytona 500. sports.yahoo.com. Yahoo! Sports. February 24, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. February 23, 2017.
  12. News: Gelston. Dan. LaJoie uses wreck, Johnson pitch to land Daytona 500 spot. February 24, 2017. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. February 23, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. https://web.archive.org/web/20170225133646/http://racing.ap.org/article/lajoie-uses-wreck-johnson-pitch-land-daytona-500-spot. February 25, 2017. dead.
  13. Web site: Beard. Brock. CUP: Reed Sorenson’s battle for transfer spot ends with Premium Motorsports’ second-straight last-place finish in Duel Race 1. brock.lastcar.info. LASTCAR.info. February 25, 2017. February 23, 2017.
  14. News: Tucker. Heather. Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin win Cam-Am Duels at Daytona. February 23, 2017. USA Today. Gannett Company. February 23, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida.
  15. Web site: Engle. Greg. No storybook ending for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Can-Am Duel. CupScene.com. Cup Scene. February 25, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. February 23, 2017.
  16. Web site: Oreovicz. John. Fans get half of what they want from finishes of the Duels. ESPN.com. ESPN Inc.. February 25, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. February 23, 2017.
  17. Web site: Cain. Holly. Jimmie Johnson to run backup car in Daytona 500. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. February 24, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. February 23, 2017.
  18. News: Fryer. Jenna. Hamlin spoils Earnhardt return with last-lap pass for win. February 23, 2017. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. February 23, 2017. Daytona Beach, Florida. https://web.archive.org/web/20170225133650/http://racing.ap.org/article/hamlin-spoils-earnhardt-return-last-lap-pass-win. February 25, 2017. dead.