Joey Logano kicked off the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season with a commanding victory in the America 250 Florida Duel 1 at Daytona as a chaotic final-lap crash propelled Casey Mears into the Daytona 500 lineup.
Logano’s triumph, his fourth in Duel history, highlighted Team Penske’s early dominance with teammate Ryan Blaney locking down second, setting an ominous tone for their championship aspirations in a season already buzzing with superspeedway intrigue.
Qualifying from the previous evening had set Kyle Busch on pole in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, alongside Ryan Preece in the RFK Racing Ford, but the action quickly devolved into the draft-heavy chaos synonymous with restrictor-plate racing.
Joey Logano, starting sixth in his Shell-Pennzoil Ford, methodically worked his way forward, leveraging Team Penske’s signature teamwork with Blaney to control the outside lane.
By Lap 20, Logano had climbed to the top five, demonstrating superior handling in traffic as he slingshot past Corey Heim’s open Toyota on the backstretch.
Ryan Blaney, starting from 11th, mirrored his teammate’s progress using aerodynamic assists from Austin Dillon’s Chevrolet to maintain momentum, while Brad Keselowski in the RFK Ford hung tough in fourth, fending off John Hunter Nemechek’s aggressive Toyota advances.
Full 2026 NASCAR Duel 1 at Daytona Results
Full 2026 NASCAR Duel 2 at Daytona Results
Mid-race tension escalated around Lap 30 when the first significant shuffle happened during green-flag pit stops.
Logano cycled out first to inherit the lead, while Blaney and Dillon followed closely forming a Penske-RCR alliance that controlled the restart pace, with Preece dropping back slightly after a sluggish stop but recovering to ninth.
Casey Mears, the underdog in the Garage 66 Ford starting 22nd, battled early handling issues that put him a lap down by Lap 56, but fate intervened with a multi-car incident involving Chandler Smith allowing Mears the free pass to regain the lead lap.
William Byron and Chris Buescher, however, tangled at Turn 2 on Lap 55 resulting to a hard wreck that collected debris and brought out the first red flag, sidelining both in 22nd and 23rd respectively.
Mears pitted strategically under yellow positioning himself behind LaJoie for the overtime restart, while Logano held steady at the front with Blaney glued to his bumper.
The overtime green on Lap 61 ignited pandemonium as the field squeezed three-wide into Turn 1, with Austin Dillon muscling into third behind the Penske duo.
Keselowski and Nemechek dueled door-to-door for fourth, Nemechek’s Toyota edging ahead thanks to a shove from Suarez, while van Gisbergen impressively held sixth amid the frenzy.
However, more chaos erupted on the final lap’s backstretch when John Hunter Nemechek veered high after a bump from Keselowski’s line, slamming into Corey LaJoie’s Ford and triggering a massive multi-car pileup that engulfed Ross Chastain, AJ Allmendinger.
Mears made contact with Suarez and the wall as he nimbly avoided the crash but never lifted off the throttle, powering through to eighth-place as the highest open finisher—securing his Daytona 500 berth.
At the front, Logano took the checkered flag first to seal third-starting spot for Sunday’s race alongside Blaney in fourth, a massive boost for Team Penske’s superspeedway strategy.
Austin Dillon rounded out the podium in third, while Brad Keselowski salvaged fourth despite the late melee. John Hunter Nemechek’s bold move on Keselowski backfired into fifth as Shane van Gisbergen, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece and Alex Bowman completed the top ten.
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