Daytona 500 duels: Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick clinch victories

Following Tyler Reddick's impressive win in the first Daytona Duel of the night, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell emerged victorious in Daytona Duel 2 on Thursday.

Kicking off the night in sensational fashion, 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick won the first Duel race at the Daytona International Speedway. Despite starting the final lap in fifth position, Reddick orchestrated a masterful maneuver, strategically positioning himself to push Kyle Larson to the lead before swiftly overtaking him to claim the checkered flag.

Following up on Reddick's victory, fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell won the second race of the night. In a dramatic finish on the final lap, Bell capitalized on a strategic move, maneuvering around a block from his teammate Denny Hamlin to seize the lead.

After battling it out with six drivers for the four vacant spots in the Cup Series opener, seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson also secured a berth in the 2024 Daytona 500 race. This will be Johnson's second part-time campaign in a row.

Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick react following Daytona Duel victories

Bell expressed his initial nerves during the restart but credited the strength of his Toyota Camry for enabling him to regain momentum. He said (via Speedway Digest):

"I was very, very nervous whenever the restart lined up. We had only, what, four cars maybe, four or five, then the rest of the field was lined up on the outside. I thought we were in trouble."

He added:

"It was very rewarding and refreshing to be able to make the right moves at the end of these races, because I've certainly made the wrong moves many of times."

Meanwhile, Tyler Reddick, the first victor of the night, reflected on the ups and downs of his race, acknowledging the challenges he faced throughout the evening. He said:

"Yeah, I mean, most of our night was not great. Coming to pit road, about wrecked again. I've gotten pretty good at that. But we survived that. That was fortunate."

"We had some good momentum, so we were kind of cutting up through the rest of the cars that pitted a little bit later that weren't quite up to speed yet. That worked out okay."

Meanwhile, Kaz Grala of Rick Ware Racing secured the final vacant spot for Sunday's Daytona 500 race. Joey Logano and Michael McDowell will kick off the race from the front row.