Click here to follow us on Twitter @circletrackplus   Click here to like us on Facebook 

LUCK HANDS BLANEY WIN IN FIRST CAN-AM DUEL 

Ryan Blaney made a move he was certain would fail and it didn't.

Thanks to the move working, Blaney won the first Can-Am Duel which puts him into the third starting position for the 60th running of the Daytona 500.

“It’s nice to get the year started off well,” stated Blaney after climbing from his Menard's Ford in victory lane. “It’s not the (Daytona) 500. You never know what can happen on Sunday. We came close in the Clash and I didn’t make a good move and I kind of lost that race. I learned a little bit and I thought about that forever. I thought we learned a little bit from our mistakes. It’s so nice to bring the 12 car back to victory lane. Hopefully, we can make it another one here on Sunday. That would be the one that counts.”

Joey Logano, another of the three Penske Racing drivers finished second followed by rookie driver Bubba Wallace Jr. in third. Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.

Wallace was beaming with a smile as he walked into the media center for a post-race interview.

“Let me start off by saying I had a bodyguard walk me from the car to here,” stated Wallace. “His name was Richard Petty.  I have never seen him that excited before.  That was the coolest thing.  Him coming up, huge hug.  Sunglasses were off.  Got to see how much he was truly excited about that.

“So, that is probably the highlight of the night, better than finishing third.  Just seeing how pumped he was, the words he said that were definitely words of encouragement.

Jimmie Johnson, #48 and Aric Almirola, #10 Ford, will find themselves starting the Daytona 500 from the rear of the field when Johnson suffered a flat rear tire early in the 150-mile event which sets the odd-numbered portion of the starting lineup.

Johnson, who is gunning for a record-setting 8th Monster Energy Series championship admitted his wreck on lap 8 of the scheduled 60 lap race was a “tough way to start Speedweeks.

“I feel terrible for my race team for all their hard work. The car started to shake a little bit entering the tri-oval. That is why I pulled down. I was kind of shocked that I had the shake and knew it was that soft tire shake coming from the right side. As I entered the tri-oval, it finally went flat and hooked me around and into to Aric (Almirola) unfortunately.”

CHASE ELLIOTT SHOWS HIS VETERAN MANNERS 

Over the final laps of the second 150-mile Can-Am Duels race, Chase Elliott showed his growth as a veteran driver holding off the challenges of Kevin Harvick in the final lap. He tried all he coud to stay out front.

"To be honest with you, I was kind of trying a bunch of stuff,” stated Eliott from victory lane. “I wasn't sure what to do. This new package is a little different. The way these cars draft is a little strange compared to what we've seen in the past. I don't 100% know that anyone has it figured out. I think we are all trying to learn and see what the best position is to be in and when is the best time to be there. We will go to work on Sunday and try to get them then." 

The win was the second for Chase in the Duels and the sixth for the Elliott family. Bill Elliott, Chase's father won four times in the Duels.

“I knew it wads going to take two moves. We made the first move but need to work on our car for the Daytona 500,” said Harvick. “We definitely need to work on the handling on our Ford to make it better.”

Erik Jones finished third, bouncing back from an early race spin. Clint Bowyer was fourth and  Kyle Busch fifth.

Denny Hamlin, running second as the field took the white flag, fell back to ninth on the final lap.

Kyle Larson was the biggest driver to suffer early in the event. Larson will start 40th in the Daytona 500.

“I just hate that we tore up another car and my guys are going to have to get another Credit One Bank Chevy prepared before tomorrow morning practice,” said Larson after exiting the infield media center.  “We just didn't really want to crash today. That stinks.  I haven't seen a replay or anything but it kind of looked like the No. 9 (Chase Elliott) got into the No. 20 (Erik Jones) in the middle of the corner. Seemed like we were all good then they started spinning on exit and I had nowhere to go.  Part of superspeedway racing--that's why we love it."