Christopher Bell made a last-lap pass on Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin to steal the victory in the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel race at Daytona.
Bell took a run off Turn 2 to get outside Hamlin, and a push from Harrison Burton sent the No. 20 Toyota clear into the lead. It was the only lap Bell led all night to his first Daytona qualifying race victory.
“It feels good,” Bell said. “These plate races, man, I don’t know what to think of them. Me and Adam Stevens, my crew chief, we have a running joke. I say these races are 100% luck. I know that’s not true, but it seems like we’ve been struggling to get to the end of it. I know I’ve been a common denominator in a lot of the wrecks. Feels good to do everything well today.”
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Bell beat Austin Cindric, Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek and Burton to the finish line. Zane Smith finished sixth and Brad Keselowski finished seventh. William Byron finished eighth, Chase Briscoe finished ninth, and Justin Haley finished 10th.
Kaz Grala finished 12th and took the final transfer spot into the Daytona 500. He beat BJ McLeod for the spot coming to the finish line. McLeod finished 14th.
“That was so much more stressful than it needed to be for us,” Grala said. “For a little while, we looked to be in good shape. We had some trouble there; pit road, we weren’t able to stay with the draft. I’m just really proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports. They worked so hard the last 24 hours to get the car ready to race today.
“We had some trouble yesterday (in qualifying). Really cool to be able to get in the show for them. Real big opportunity for me. Excited to be here on Sunday again.”
The second Duel race was uneventful until lap 49 of 60. A multi-car crash collected reigning series champion Ryan Blaney and other frontrunners when Kyle Busch got into the back of William Byron. The contact sent Byron to the left, hooking Blaney in the right rear and sending the No. 12 Team Penske Ford nose-first into the outside wall.
Blaney walked away and was cleared from the infield care center. The crash collected 12 drivers.
Michael McDowell and Hamlin led the field to the green flag with eight laps to go. A block by Hamlin coming to four laps to go shuffled McDowell out of the pack and opened the door for Bell to move into second place behind his teammate.
Hamlin, Bell, and John Hunter Nemechek were single-file at the white flag. Bell’s winning run on Hamlin developed when he moved to the outside in front of the charging Burton and Cindric.
There were 13 lead changes among nine drivers. The multi-car crash was the only caution.
Bell will start fourth in the Daytona 500 by way of his victory.