DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tyler Reddick drove to a thrilling victory during the first Bluegreen Vacations Duels qualifying race for the Daytona 500, but the real excitement was the battle for the final transfer position between J.J. Yeley and Jimmie Johnson.
Johnson had to race his way into the starting lineup in the No. 84 Carvana Toyota. He was involved in a multi-car incident in Turn 3 with seven laps to go and that put him behind Yeley, the other “Open” car that had to race into the starting lineup.
The two drivers battled over the closing laps in a side-by-side duel before Johnson was able to pull ahead of Yeley coming out of the final turn of the final lap to gain the position.All that mattered for Johnson was finishing ahead of Yeley, which he was able to do.
“I’ve never been in a position like this before and my appreciation for what these guys have to do to get in like this has gone way up,” Johnson said. “I was just in the right place when the checkered flag fell.”
Yeley also presented his side of the frantic battle to try to advance into the Daytona 500 field.
“It was exciting,” Yeley said. “Hendrick Motorsports put this car together and it was fast in the draft. Side-by-side with two or three to go, I thought I was in really good shape. I made the decision to pull out at the end and try to use the momentum, but he had all the moment and got the position. It sucks.”
Reddick started 19th in the No. 45 23XI Toyota and defeated Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet. Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet was third, giving Hendrick Motorsports two cars in the top three.
“It’s a great way to start of the weekend,” Reddick said. “This thing was a beast.”
This Duel set the inside lane for Sunday’s Daytona 500.
Kyle Larson led the first lap while pole winner Logano dropped to third.
Toyota’s Erik Jones motored his way to the lead on the ninth lap.
Johnson, who was in the unique position of having to race his way into the field for the first time in his career, was up to fourth place in the first 20 laps. He was sixth on lap 22, while the other two “Open” drivers were J.J. Yeley in 20th and Anthony Alfredo in 21st.
Johnson moved up to third with 25 laps to go. Meantime, Alfredo, who was already locked in on speed, was running poorly and pitted early. He was assessed a speeding penalty and had to come back down pit road, which greatly helped Johnson’s cause.
With 20 laps to go, four cars came down pit road with Reddick avoiding Austin Dillon’s Chevrolet as he was caught off guard.
The Chevrolets pitted with 16 laps to go. Todd Gilliland was the leader at the time in the No. 38. Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing was nailed for speeding and had to make a drive through down pit road.
Logano led the Fords down pit road one lap later and the field was spread out with 15 laps remaining.
After the pit stop sequence was completed, Larson was the leader ahead of Daniel Suarez, Elliott and Bowman.
Johnson’s seemingly effortless drive into the field hit a detour when he was involved in an incident with when Daniel Hemric got loose, creating a backup in the rear of the field. Defending Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the back of Hemric’s car, creating a multi-car crash.
Johnson’s Toyota did not appear to sustain much damage. Dillon was also involved in the incident.
What appeared to be a near certainty for Johnson was suddenly tense as he had to finish ahead of Yeley to assure himself of a starting position in the Daytona 500. He drove his Toyota down pit road on Lap 52 for fresh tires.
Before the crash, Johnson had dropped to the rear of the field to protect his car because at that point, he was in great shape to advance. On the restart with seven laps to go, Yeley was 14th and Johnson 18th. Johnson had to beat Yeley in order to advance.
Johnson passed Yeley for 15th with six laps to go, but Yeley nudged ahead briefly on the following lap.
Coming to the tri-oval, Yeley pinched Johnson’s car on the bottom lane and that gave him the advantage. With three to go, Johnson was five car lengths behind Yeley, but Johnson was able to get some momentum and pass Yeley.
It remained side-by-side between those drivers over the final two laps.
Yeley pulled ahead on the final lap while Johnson ducked behind, hoping to get a draft.
Johnson was able to pull ahead out of the last corner and grab the transfer position. He finished 12th, while Yeley was 16th at the line.
“That was pretty good,” Johnson said to his crew over the radio. “That was ways more pressure than I ever wanted.”
Oh, by the way, Reddick drove to the victory by 0.056-of-a-second.