2016 Can-Am Duels

The 2016 Can-Am Duels were a pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car races held on February 18, 2016, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both contested over 60 laps, they were the qualifying races for the 2016 Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the first Duel race and Kyle Busch won the second Duel race.

2016 Can-Am Duels

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Date	February 18, 2016
Location	Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km)
Distance	Race 1: 60 laps, 150 mi (240 km) Race 2: 60 laps, 150 mi (240 km)
Avg Speed	Race 1 172.911 mph (278.273 km/h) Race 2 191.898 mph (308.830 km/h)
Weather	Clear night skies with a temperature of 59 °F (15 °C); wind out of the north/northeast at 14 mph (23 km/h)
Race 1
Pole position	Chase Elliott (R)
Most laps led	Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (43)
Winner	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Race 2
Pole position	Matt Kenseth
Most laps led	Kyle Busch (35)
Winner	Kyle Busch
Television
Network	Fox Sports 1 & MRN
Announcers	Mike 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

Background

Daytona International Speedway, where the races were 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.[11] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[12] The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.[12]

Practice

First practice (February 13)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.364 and a speed of 194.116 mph (312.399 km/h).[13]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	46.364	194.116
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	46.427	193.853
3	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	46.444	193.782
Official first practice results

Second practice (February 13)

Joey Logano was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 45.934 and a speed of 195.933 mph (315.324 km/h).[14]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	45.934	195.933
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	45.954	195.848
3	21	Ryan Blaney (R)	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	45.966	195.797
Official second practice results

Pole qualifying

Chase Elliott, seen here at Road America, scored the pole for the Daytona 500.

Qualifying for the Daytona 500 is different from any other race weekend because the starting lineup for the race – except for the two drivers that post the two fastest timed laps in the final round of qualifying – isn't set on qualifying day. It sets the lineup for the two duel races the following Thursday.

Unlike qualifying at non-restrictor plate races, qualifying at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway consists of two rounds of cars being sent out one at a time to make a single timed lap. The fastest 12 advance to the final round to run for the pole position.

Chase Elliott scored the pole for the race with a time of 45.845 and a speed of 196.314 mph (315.937 km/h).[15] He said that today was "a very, very cool day. I don’t know that this opportunity has sunk in yet, much less sitting on the pole for the Daytona 500. I think the big thing is just the team and the Daytona 500 qualifying is about the team guys and the effort they put into these cars and it’s nothing special I did, it’s really what kind of work they did this off-season to make it happen."[16]

After qualifying seventh and being all but guaranteed into the Daytona 500 based on speed, Ryan Blaney said that he "wasn't really too nervous going into today. I knew we had a really fast race car. We just had to do our job and we did it and we just had to lock ourselves in. I really wasn't feeling any different than I do any other day."[17]

Likewise, Matt DiBenedetto – who is also all but guaranteed in on his speed after qualifying 24th – said that he could "sleep well, finally. I was really nervous all night. This is just a testament to the hard work from the guys on my team. Two-hundredths of a second. I'm really thankful, thankful to be racing in my first Daytona 500, most importantly. I'm really thankful and blessed to be here.”[18]

Martin Truex, Jr was unable to post a time over a roof flap issue.[19] The Stewart Haas Racing cars of Kevin Harvick and Brian Vickers had their times disqualified after their track bars failed inspection.

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 Grid 1 24 Chase Elliott (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.031 45.845 1 (1) 2 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 45.994 45.910 1 (2) 3 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 45.968 45.993 2 (1) 4 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.127 46.105 2 (2) 5 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.191 46.126 3 (1) 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.215 46.192 3 (2) 7 21 Ryan Blaney (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 46.257 46.214 4 (1) 8 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.201 46.231 4 (2) 9 19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.269 46.234 5 (1) 10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 46.266 46.267 5 (2) 11 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 46.330 46.270 6 (1) 12 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 46.331 46.282 6 (2) 13 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 46.332 — 7 (1) 14 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 46.367 — 7 (2) 15 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.368 — 8 (1) 16 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 46.407 — 8 (2) 17 95 Ty Dillon Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 46.407 — 9 (1) 18 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 46.421 — 9 (2) 19 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46.451 — 10 (1) 20 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 46.472 — 10 (2) 21 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 46.536 — 11 (1) 22 44 Brian Scott (R) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46.552 — 11 (2) 23 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 46.647 — 12 (1) 24 93 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 46.708 — 12 (2) 25 59 Michael McDowell Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 46.728 — 13 (1) 26 7 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 46.743 — 13 (2) 27 83 Michael Waltrip BK Racing Toyota 46.776 — 14 (1) 28 34 Chris Buescher (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 46.786 — 14 (2) 29 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 46.804 — 15 (1) 30 32 Bobby Labonte Go FAS Racing Ford 46.922 — 15 (2) 31 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 46.977 — 16 (1) 32 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 47.013 — 16 (2) 33 46 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 47.046 — 17 (1) 34 15 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 47.059 — 17 (2) 35 38 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.073 — 18 (1) 36 26 Robert Richardson, Jr. BK Racing Toyota 47.245 — 18 (2) 37 98 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Toyota 47.275 — 19 (1) 38 35 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 47.531 — 19 (2) 39 23 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota 47.602 — 20 (1) 40 30 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 48.056 — 20 (2) 41 40 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 49.679 — 21 (1) 42 14 Brian Vickers Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 0.000 - 21 (2) 43 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 0.000 - 22 (1) 44 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 0.000 - 22 (2) Official qualifying results

Key Meaning (1) Race 1 (2) Race 2

Practice (post-qualifying)

Third practice (February 17)

Michael McDowell was the fastest in the third practice session with a time of 44.961 and a speed of 200.173 mph (322.147 km/h).[20]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	59	Michael McDowell	Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	44.961	200.173
2	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	45.019	199.916
3	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	45.086	199.619
Official third practice results

Fourth practice (February 17)

Brian Scott was the fastest in the fourth practice session with a time of 45.045 and a speed of 199.800 mph (321.547 km/h).[21] Kyle Larson and Michael Waltrip will start from the rear of the field in their respective Duel races after being involved in a four-car crash in turn 1.[22]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	44	Brian Scott (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	45.045	199.800
2	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	45.052	199.762
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45.061	199.729
Official fourth practice results

Final practice (February 18)

Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 46.619 and a speed of 193.054 mph (310.690 km/h).[23]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	46.619	193.054
2	44	Brian Scott (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	47.394	189.897
3	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	47.394	189.897
Official final practice results

Races

Start

Under clear night Florida skies, Chase Elliott led the field to the green flag at 7:21 p.m. He drafted ahead of teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to lead the first lap. After stalling out heading to the line, Earnhardt took the lead on lap 3. He spent the next few laps holding the reigns of the field controlling the top and bottom lanes. Eventually the field formed a single-file line and rode around the top lane of the track. Brad Keselowski made a few attempts to pass him, but Earnhardt continued to control the track to the point he settled back behind. By lap 27, the single-file train broke up and two lines formed amongst the front pack. A number of cars hit pit road to kick off a cycle of green flag stops on lap 40. Earnhardt hit pit road on lap 41 and teammate Kasey Kahne assumed the lead. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Denny Hamlin.

Second half

The first caution of the race flew on lap 43 for a single-car spin in turn 1. Going for the pass on Michael McDowell, Cole Whitt got turned and sent spinning by Regan Smith. He retired from the race and would go on to miss the Daytona 500.

The race restarted with 13 laps to go. Hamlin got a jump on Earnhardt and pulled to the front with ease. Earnhardt worked his way back to the front and drove underneath Hamlin to retake the lead with five laps to go. As Brian Scott got turned and slammed the inside wall exiting turn 4, Earnhardt took the checkered flag.[24] McDowell raced his way in as the fastest of the non-charter cars while Cole Whitt and Josh Wise did not qualify.

Results

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	2	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	60
2	7	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	60
3	4	21	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	60
4	22	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart Haas Racing	Chevrolet	60
5	6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	60
6	1	24	Chase Elliott (R)	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	60
7	8	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	60
8	11	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	60
9	15	34	Chris Buescher (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	60
10	3	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	60
11	5	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	60
12	17	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	60
13	10	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	60
14	13	59	Michael McDowell	Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	60
15	14	7	Regan Smith	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	60
16	20	23	David Ragan	BK Racing	Toyota	60
17	21	30	Josh Wise	The Motorsports Group	Chevrolet	60
18	18	15	Clint Bowyer	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	60
19	16	32	Bobby Labonte	Go FAS Racing	Ford	60
20	12	44	Brian Scott (R)	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	59
21	9	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	58
22	19	98	Cole Whitt	Premium Motorsports	Toyota	47
Unofficial race results

Start

Matt Kenseth led the field to the green flag at 9:02 p.m. He pulled ahead of teammate Kyle Busch to lead the first lap. Unlike the first Duel race, the bottom line disappeared and the field formed a single-file train by the fifth lap. After Ryan Newman led the second pack of cars back up to the lead 11 cars, Martin Truex, Jr. jumped in front of him and reformed the bottom line. However, the line lost momentum and merged with the top line. Running with debris on his grille, Kenseth let Busch go by him in turn 1 to get it off and Busch took over the lead on lap 25. Kyle Busch hit pit road on lap 39 and handed the lead to Aric Almirola. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled back to Busch.

Second half

Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap in turn 2

With six laps to go, Jimmie Johnson broke out of line and caused the single-file line to form multiple lines before reforming into a single line. Eventually, Kenseth tried to break the line up again, but the field remained in place. With two laps to go, Casey Mears ran out of gas, nearly caused a wreck amongst the leaders and broke up the single-file train. The final lap saw a multi-car wreck in turn 1 that ended the race and gave the win to Busch.[25] Robert Richardson, Jr. raced his way in, while David Gilliland and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify.

Results

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps
1	2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	60
2	10	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	60
3	5	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	60
4	4	19	Carl Edwards	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	60
5	8	95	Ty Dillon	Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	60
6	11	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	60
7	14	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	60
8	22	14	Brian Vickers	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	60
9	12	93	Matt DiBenedetto	BK Racing	Toyota	60
10	16	46	Michael Annett	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	60
11	17	38	Landon Cassill	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	60
12	19	35	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	60
13	3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	59
14	21	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	59
15	15	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	59
16	1	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	59
17	6	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	59
18	18	26	Robert Richardson, Jr.	BK Racing	Toyota	59
19	9	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	59
20	13	83	Michael Waltrip	BK Racing	Toyota	59
21	20	40	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	56
22	7	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	31
Unofficial race results

Media

Television

Fox Sports 1
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

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

Notes

References

1. "2016 Sprint Cup Series schedule" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
2. "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
3. "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 13, 2016. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
4. "Second Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 13, 2016. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
5. "Qualifying results" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. February 14, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
6. "Third Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 17, 2016. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
7. "Fourth Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 17, 2016. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
8. "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 18, 2016. Archived from the original on February 21, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
9. "Duel Race 1 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 18, 2016. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
10. "Duel Race 2 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 18, 2016. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
11. "Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
12. "Daytona International Speedway Track Facts". Daytona International Speedway. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
13. Long, Dustin (February 13, 2016). "Dale Earnhardt Jr. fastest in first practice Saturday at Daytona". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NBC Sports. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
14. Spencer, Lee (February 13, 2016). "Penske teammates draft their way to the top of second 500 practice". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
15. Gluck, Jeff (February 14, 2016). "Chase Elliott wins pole for Daytona 500". USA Today. Daytona Beach, Florida: Gannett Company. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
16. Wackerlin, Jeff (February 14, 2016). "Elliott Wins Daytona 500 Pole". MRN.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
17. Pockrass, Bob (February 14, 2016). "Chase Elliott gets pole, Matt DiBenedetto breathes sigh of relief". ESPN.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
18. Willis, Ken (February 14, 2016). "Like father, like son: Second-generation Elliott becomes youngest to win pole for 500". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida: GateHouse Media, Inc. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
19. Pockrass, Bob (February 14, 2016). "Martin Truex Jr. to start at back of Daytona qualifying for violation". ESPN.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
20. Spencer, Lee (February 17, 2016). "Roush cars forced to change rear gears as McDowell leads practice". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
21. Utter, Jim (February 17, 2016). "Multi-car wreck mars Wednesday's final Cup practice". Motorsport.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Motorsport.com, Inc. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
22. Albert, Zack (February 17, 2016). "Ty Dillon: 'I hate that we tore up so many race cars'". NASCAR.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
23. Bonkowski, Jerry (February 18, 2016). "Jimmie Johnson leads final Sprint Cup practice prior to Can-Am Duels". nascartalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
24. Gluck, Jeff (February 18, 2016). "Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins first of two duels, will start third in Daytona 500". USA Today. Daytona Beach, Florida: Gannett Company. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
25. Fryer, Jenna (February 18, 2016). "Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch win Daytona qualifying races". Associated Press. Daytona Beach, Florida: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.