Hamlin passes Earnhardt for Can-Am Duel victory

Elliott’s Chevrolet rolls in fifirst of two 150-mile qualififiers.

DAYTONA BEACH — Denny Hamlin didn’t need a Toyota teammate to grab another win at Daytona International Speedway.

Hamlin charged past Dale Earnhardt Jr. with one lap remaining Thursday night to deny Earnhardt a victory a 150-mile qualifying race that Earnhardt dominated. Earnhardt led 53 of the 60 laps in the second qualifying Can-Am Duel, but couldn’t hold offff a Hamlin charge at the end.

Hamlin got a push from Chevrolet driver Austin Dillon to gather the momentum needed to get past Earnhardt. Typically, the Toyota drivers have teamed together to navigate through traffiffic in restrictor plate races.

I n t he quali f yi ng race, Hamlin didn’t need his fellow Toyota drivers and even overcame a pit road penalty to get the win.

“I d o n ’ t k n o w wh a t I could have done difffffffffffferently to defend that,” Earnhardt said. “Denny is so smart, he knows what he’s doing out there. Any which way I went, I knew he was going to go the other way and probably get by me.” It was Earnhardt’s fifirst race in his return from a concussion that caused him to miss the second half of last season. He faded to sixth.

Hamlin is the defending Daytona winner and has won a Duel qualifying race three times in his career. The twin 150-mile races are used to set the fifield for Sunday’s season- opener, and Hamlin got this win after he announced a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing and sponsor FedEx.

Chase Elliott won the fifirst qualififier, but he had already earned the top starting spot for Sunday based on speed. He and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Earnhardt will start on the front row.

There were two open slots for the Daytona 500, and

they were claimed by Corey LaJoie and Canadian driver D.J. Kennington.

L a Jo i e h a d t h e h a rd e r road, running into the back of Reed Sorenson, one of the drivers he was racing for the slot in the 500. It c aused Sorenson to wreck.

“I know it looked like I meant to do it but I didn’t,” LaJoie said on his radio. “I was running the middle and he came down on me.” Sorenson was not pleased. “I guess he felt like he did what he had to do to make the race,” Sorenson said. “I hope he’s proud of that part of it.”

Elliott was thrilled with his fifirst Cup victory.

“I know this was just a Duel win, and doesn’t mean a lot for the playoffffs, but it still means something to me,” said Elliott.

Indeed, this was technically just an exhibition race. But new rules for this season earned Elliott 10 points with the win.

NASCAR’s new fo r mat this year including a provision that awards points on a 10-to-1 declining scale to the top-10 fifinishers in Thursday night’s races.

Points were not the goal for Elliott, though. His Hendrick Motorsports team instead wanted to test his Chevrolet for Sunday.

“We didn’t say one word a b o u t p o i n t s b e f o re t h e race,” Elliott said. “We just kind of set out and wanted to race, not ride around. We took chances and it worked out, so (we’re) excited for Sunday.”