The 2017 Can-Am Duels were a pair of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car races held on February 23, 2017, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both contested over 60 laps, they were the qualifying races for the 2017 Daytona 500.

2017 Can-Am Duels
Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
DateFebruary 23, 2017 (2017-02-23)
LocationDaytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4 km)
DistanceRace 1:
60 laps, 150 mi (240 km)
Race 2:
60 laps, 150 mi (240 km)
Avg SpeedRace 1:
160.095 mph (257.648 km/h)
Race 2:
156.977 mph (252.630 km/h)
Race 1
Pole positionChase Elliott
Most laps ledBrad Keselowski (28)
WinnerChase Elliott
Race 2
Pole positionDale Earnhardt Jr.
Most laps ledDale Earnhardt Jr. (53)
WinnerDenny Hamlin
Television
NetworkFS1 & MRN
AnnouncersMike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip (Television)
Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace (Booth)
Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio)

Report

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Background

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Daytona International Speedway, where the races will be held.

Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four–turn superspeedway that is 2.5-mile (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

Practice

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First practice

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Joey Logano was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.604 seconds and a speed of 193.116 mph (310.790 km/h).[8]

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 46.604 193.116
2 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46.619 193.054
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 46.621 193.046
Official first practice results

Qualifying

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Chase Elliott scored the pole for the Daytona 500 with a time of 46.663 and a speed of 192.872 mph (310.397 km/h).[9] He said afterwards that everyone at Hendrick Motorsports did "a lot of work this off-season. This team definitely has a knack for these plate tracks, as they showed with Jeff Gordon and then last year with here and Talladega." He also mentioned how these accomplishments don't "just happen by staying the same, as everybody knows. Everyone is always trying to get better and make their cars better and faster, and the engine shop is always finding new things. So I think that's just proof that they're improving with everybody else and taking that next step, which is really impressive." He ended by saying he was "happy to be a part of it, and hopefully we can run good next Sunday."[10]

Qualifying results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2
1 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.800 46.663
2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.810 46.665
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 46.820 46.707
4 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.854 46.736
5 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 46.826 46.800
6 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.845 46.823
7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 46.867 46.829
8 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.864 46.853
9 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.840 46.871
10 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.859 46.876
11 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.855 46.932
12 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 46.869 47.009
13 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.874
14 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.900
15 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.905
16 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 46.923
17 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 46.929
18 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 46.937
19 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.944
20 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 46.950
21 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.989
22 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 47.017
23 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 47.023
24 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 47.042
25 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47.123
26 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 47.127
27 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.285
28 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 47.298
29 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 47.355
30 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 47.438
31 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 47.513
32 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.518
33 75 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 47.545
34 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Ford 47.592
35 15 Michael Waltrip Premium Motorsports Toyota 47.599
36 7 Elliott Sadler (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 47.730
37 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 48.043
38 96 D. J. Kennington Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 48.175
39 23 Joey Gase (i) BK Racing Toyota 48.428
40 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 48.584
41 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 48.710
42 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 48.886
Official Qualifying Results

Practice (post–Qualifying)

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Both practice sessions scheduled for Thursday following qualifying was cancelled due to rain.

Duels

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Duel 1

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First half

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Chase Elliott led the field to the green flag at 7:19 p.m. He side-drafted Brad Keselowski on the backstretch to jump in front and lead the first lap. Keselowski dove under him in Turn 2 to take the lead the following lap. While he was leading, teammate Joey Logano made an unscheduled stop on lap 12 for a flat tire and rejoined a lap down. Kyle Busch took the lead as the first caution of the race, a scheduled competition caution due to rain showers, flew on lap 25. Everyone pitted under the caution and Busch retained the lead. Matt DiBenedetto restarted from the tail-end of the field for speeding on pit road.

Second half

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The race restarted on lap 31. When the field reached the backstretch, Keselowski powered by Busch on the outside lane to take back the lead. Elliott dove inside Keselowski in Turn 2 to retake the lead on lap 37. The second caution flew with 12 laps to go for a two-car wreck on the frontstretch. Coming through the tri-oval heading towards Turn 1, Corey LaJoie rear-ended Reed Sorenson, who checked up, turning Sorenson down into Paul Menard, sending Sorenson down the track and into the inside retaining wall.[11] Sorenson, who missed the race as a result of this wreck, said he guessed LaJoie "felt like he did what he had to do to make the race. I hope he's proud of that part of it. There's a lot of pressure going in to making this race. It's a very big deal for a small team like ours."[12] Sorenson went on to finish last.[13]

The race restarted with eight laps to go. The Fords of Kevin Harvick and Keselowski formed a line on the top side to make a charge at Elliott. The line started stalling out with five laps to go and Elliott drove on to score the victory, only challenged by Harvick and Jamie McMurray.[14]

Duel 1 results

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Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 1 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 10
2 12 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 60 9
3 4 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 8
4 2 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 60 7
5 5 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 6
6 10 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 5
7 13 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 60 4
8 9 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 60 3
9 18 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Ford 60 2
10 8 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 1
11 6 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 0
12 7 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 0
13 15 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 60 0
14 14 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 0
15 20 23 Joey Gase (i) BK Racing Toyota 60 0
16 21 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 60 0
17 17 75 Brendan Gaughan (i) Beard Motorsports Chevrolet 60 0
18 11 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 59 0
19 19 55 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 48 0
20 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 60 0
21 16 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 60 0
Official race results

Duel 2

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First half

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the field to the green flag at 8:51 p.m. He and Denny Hamlin raced side-by-side for the lead for five laps before the field settled into a single-file train running against the wall. The race flow was broken up by the lap 26 competition caution, also scheduled due to earlier rain showers. Everyone pitted under the caution and Ryan Blaney exited pit road with the race lead. Hamlin (speeding) and Elliott Sadler (driving through too many pit boxes) restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.[15]

Second half

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The race restarted on lap 31 and Earnhardt wasted little time taking the lead back from Blaney. Unlike the first Duel race, this race was more calm and reserved. Action started picking up with 18 laps to go when Jimmie Johnson made contact with Blaney on the backstretch, forcing Blaney into the outside wall.[16] Five laps later, Johnson suffered a right-side tire blowout on the backstretch and slammed the wall in Turn 3, bringing out the second caution.[17]

The race restarted with nine to go. On the final lap, Hamlin received a push from Austin Dillon, faked Earnhardt out on the backstretch and passed him going into Turn 3 to win the second Duel race.[18]

Duel 2 results

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Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 10
2 2 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 9
3 11 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 8
4 13 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 7
5 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 6
6 12 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 60 5
7 5 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 4
8 8 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 60 3
9 6 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 60 2
10 16 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 1
11 15 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 60 0
12 7 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 0
13 4 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 0
14 19 96 D. J. Kennington Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 60 0
15 18 7 Elliott Sadler (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 60 0
16 17 15 Michael Waltrip Premium Motorsports Toyota 60 0
17 20 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 60 0
18 10 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 59 0
19 9 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 55 0
20 21 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 29 0
21 14 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 60 0
Official race results

Media

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Television

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FS1
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon
Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip
Jamie Little
Chris Neville
Vince Welch
Matt Yocum

Radio

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MRN Radio
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody
Backstretch: Mike Bagley
Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

References

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  1. ^ "2017 Cup Series schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. May 5, 2016. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  2. ^ "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 27, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  3. ^ "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 15, 2017. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  4. ^ "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 18, 2017. Archived from the original on February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  5. ^ "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 19, 2017. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  6. ^ "Duel Race 1 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 23, 2017. Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  7. ^ "Duel Race 2 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 23, 2017. Archived from the original on March 9, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  8. ^ Spencer, Lee (February 18, 2017). "Logano and Ford top Daytona 500 qualifying practice". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  9. ^ Gelston, Dan (February 19, 2017). "Elliott nips Earnhardt to win 2nd straight Daytona 500 pole". Associated Press. Daytona Beach, Florida: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  10. ^ Spencer, Reid (February 19, 2017). "Chase Elliott captures back-to-back Daytona 500 poles". NASCAR.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR Wire Service. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  11. ^ Bromberg, Nick (February 23, 2017). "Corey LaJoie crashes Reed Sorenson out of the Daytona 500". sports.yahoo.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  12. ^ Gelston, Dan (February 23, 2017). "LaJoie uses wreck, Johnson pitch to land Daytona 500 spot". Associated Press. Daytona Beach, Florida: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  13. ^ Beard, Brock (February 23, 2017). "CUP: Reed Sorenson's battle for transfer spot ends with Premium Motorsports' second-straight last-place finish in Duel Race 1". brock.lastcar.info. LASTCAR.info. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  14. ^ Tucker, Heather (February 23, 2017). "Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin win Cam-Am Duels at Daytona". USA Today. Daytona Beach, Florida: Gannett Company. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  15. ^ Engle, Greg (February 23, 2017). "No storybook ending for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Can-Am Duel". CupScene.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Cup Scene. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  16. ^ Oreovicz, John (February 23, 2017). "Fans get half of what they want from finishes of the Duels". ESPN.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: ESPN Inc. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  17. ^ Cain, Holly (February 23, 2017). "Jimmie Johnson to run backup car in Daytona 500". NASCAR.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  18. ^ Fryer, Jenna (February 23, 2017). "Hamlin spoils Earnhardt return with last-lap pass for win". Associated Press. Daytona Beach, Florida: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.