02/12/26 07:41:00
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02/12 19:39 CST Joey Logano wins the first Daytona 500 qualifying race; Casey
Mears grabs a transfer spot
Joey Logano wins the first Daytona 500 qualifying race; Casey Mears grabs a
transfer spot
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) --- Joey Logano won the first Daytona 500 qualifying
race Thursday night under caution when a crash in overtime cost Corey LaJoie a
spot in "The Great American Race" and gave Casey Mears a coveted spot in
NASCAR's opener.
Logano in a Ford for Team Penske had control of the race when a caution for a
five-car accident with four laps remaining brought out the caution. Austin
Dillon got too big of a push from Chris Buescher and it caused him to run into
Bubba Wallace and spin Wallace in an incident that sent the race into overtime
at Daytona International Speedway.
Logano had the lead on the restart for the two-lap sprint to the finish with
LaJoie in position to claim the one open spot in the 41-car field. But LaJoie
was spun on the final lap and Mears missed hitting him by mere inches.
By ducking through, Mears beat out LaJoie and Chandler Smith for the transfer
spot from the first 150-mile qualifying race. Mears recovered to make the
Daytona 500 from an earlier incident on pit road.
"I just know that we made it, the car is damaged, but we got it in," Mears
said. "I can't believe we are here based on our night and the way that it went.
I didn't know who was in and whether or not we made it and then the guys
started going nuts on the radio."
Logano, a three-time Cup champion, won the qualifier for the fourth time in his
career. He won the Daytona 500 in 2015.
"I do think we have a strong race car, obviously a fast race car, we proved
that," Logano said.
Ryan Blaney, teammates with Logano at Penske, finished second. Dillon was third.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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