By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
McDonald’s Toyota driver Bubba Wallace won his first Duel on Thursday. The 23XI driver won the first Duel of Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
This was the second 23XI Racing duel win. However, it was the first Duel win for Wallace.
“Man, what a night,” Wallace said. “Crowd’s loud tonight, appreciate you guys. Hope that was a good race. There we go. Man, thanks to Tyler (Reddick). That was awesome to see two team cars work together that well and learn a lot for Sunday.
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“Did a great job pushing me. Our McDonald’s Toyota Camry was really fast. Two different balances from being in the back to being out front. So, got some work to do there, but all in all… Man, I’ve wanted one of these dual wins for so long. All my buddies got them. Tyler got one last year and I’m pissed off.”
Wallace picked up 10 points for the win. Wallace will start third in the Daytona 500.
Axalta Chevrolet driver William Byron finished second. Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet driver Ty Dillon finished third.
JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier secured a spot in the Daytona. Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet driver was the non-chartered open car to get the spot, as he finished ninth.
This is Allgaier’s first Daytona 500 since the 2015 season. It is his third Daytona 500 overall, as he also competed in the big race in 2014.
“The emotions right now are just because of how much everybody here has wanted it,” Allgaier said. “You know, Dale and Kelly and LW and everybody at JR Motorsports. This guy right here. You know, it’s all Sunday because the race is on Sunday. His lip was quivering and his hands were shaking before the race. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that of Dale Jr. He told me before the race, he said, man, I’m nervous. I don’t want to make you nervous, but I’m nervous. And it’s the truth. I mean, this means a lot to our team, this little team at JR Motorsports.
You know what? Dale Jr. is an amazing, amazing race car driver. He’s an amazing dad and car owner. And you could tell how much he wanted this and our whole shop wanted this. And this thing just happened. You know, everybody at Traveler Whiskey, Chris Stapleton, he’ll be here on Sunday. And I’m excited to see him here and debut this car, the Daytona 500. And JR Motorsports will be the Daytona 500. There were so many faces on this car that it worked to make this car happen.”
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JR Motorsports has been primarily an Xfinity Series team. However, they have a Cup Series opportunity on Sunday.
“This is their first ever real experience in the Cup Series,” Allgaier said. “And we had a lot of veterans as well. You know, Greg Ives was pretty hard on himself last night after qualifying was over. Just proud of everybody on this team, Chevy and, you know, Hendrick and DeChop. Everybody that’s a part of this. We get to go race the Daytona 500.
It’s pretty special. I’ve been here before. Xfinity Series Champion and all this stuff. But this one means more than I could ever imagine. And it’s going to be fun.”
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