Six Drivers Face Pressure-Packed Situation in Thusday's Daytona Duels

Six drivers will attempt to make their way into the Daytona 500 starting grid in Thursday night's America 250 Duels, but only two of them can achieve the ultimate goal.

Corey LaJoie will be among the six drivers looking to secure their places in the 2026 Daytona 500 starting grid in Thursday night's America 250 Duels at Daytona. | Ricky Martinez | TobyChristie.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- As we continue to barrel toward Sunday's Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, we now know that Kyle Busch will serve as the polesitter for the Great American Race, he'll be joined on the front row by Chase Briscoe, and we also know that Corey Heim and Justin Allgaier have locked into the field by way of their qualifying speeds.

However, there are still two starting spots remaining in the 41-car field, and there are six drivers who will fight for those spots in Thursday night's America 250 Duel Qualifying Races at Daytona International Speedway. Three of the six drivers will compete in each of the Duels, and the highest-finishing "Open" driver in each Duel will advance to the starting field for the Daytona 500.

With the Daytona 500 featuring a purse of $31,045,575, which is an all-time record, making the field could be season changing for the teams involved, and it could certainly be career changing for each of the drivers attempting to make the field.

America 250 Duel 1 -- 7:00 PM ET on FS1

The three drivers, who will battle it out in the opening Duel of the evening will be Corey LaJoie, Chandler Smith, and Casey Mears. And while qualifying speeds would suggest this should be a runaway for LaJoie, at Daytona International Speedway, there is no such thing as a slam dunk.

LaJoie, who made his first Daytona 500 start in 2017, has competed in the event every season since 2017, including last year when he drove into the starting lineup through the Duels in the No. 01 Rick Ware Racing "Open" entry.

Knowing where his career stands, LaJoie knows he doesn't have much to lose on his path to a starting spot in the Daytona 500, which could help him or hurt him, depending on how you choose to look at that fact. But at the end of the day, his No. 99 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse will be the most potent race car of the three trying to lock into the show in the opening Duel on Thursday night. Can he parlay that into another Daytona 500 starting spot?

While LaJoie is looking for his 10th career Daytona 500 start, 23-year-old Chandler Smith is still seeking his first start in NASCAR's biggest race. But the fact that Smith hasn't competed in the Daytona 500 isn't for lack of trying.

The native of Talking Rock, GA, comes into Thursday's Duel with two previous failed attempts to secure a starting spot in the Daytona 500. Smith competed in the No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet in 2023, and was the first driver on the outside looking in, and a year ago, he drove the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford in the Duels, and impressed with incredible speed.

However, while battling inside the top-five of the Duel, Smith made an errant move and crashed hard in Turn 2, which ended any hope he had at making it into the Daytona 500. The young racer, who has compiled 10 wins between the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will look to learn from his past experiences. He'll look to drive the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford into the field.

Rounding out the perspective Daytona 500 starters in Duel 1 is 47-year-old Casey Mears, who will drive the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Mears, the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 winner, surprised when he resurfaced during the 2025 season for a five-race schedule with the No. 66 team after a five-year hiatus from competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Mears decided to come back to the sport after it was brought to his attention how close he was to a career milestone of 500 NASCAR Cup Series starts. Heading into his attempt to lock into the Daytona 500 on Thursday night, Mears has 494 career starts. If he can lock into the show, he'll be just five starts away from his goal of 500 career NASCAR Cup Series starts.

America 250 Duel 2 -- 8:45 PM ET on FS1

While many expect LaJoie to easily move on from Duel 1 into the Daytona 500 starting field, the second Amercia 250 Duel has no clear-cut favorite. The three drivers, who will fight it out in the second qualifying race of the evening will be Anthony Alfredo, BJ McLeod, and JJ Yeley.

Alfredo, 26, is once again attempting the Daytona 500, driving for the No. 62 Chevrolet for Beard Motorsports. Two years ago, the driver and team became the Cinderella Story of the Daytona 500 field when they surprised everyone with their speed in Daytona 500 qualifying, which secured their place in the Daytona 500 field, regardless of their Duel finish that season.

Last year, things didn't go as smoothly for Alfredo and Beard Motorsports as they were on the outside looking in at the end of the Duels.

This year, they'll look to redeem themselves from last year's heartbreak. And if they can do it, it'll mark the third Daytona 500 start of Alfredo's young career, but as Alfredo has experienced in his career and as he learned last year, nothing is given in the NASCAR Cup Series.

While Beard Motorsports is the organization that typically brings the most consistent speed to the track among the three open teams in this Duel, BJ McLeod's Live Fast Motorsports team has showcased the ability to have race-leading speed at superspeedways since they sold their team charter a few years ago.

McLeod knows what it's like to be a starter in the Daytona 500, as the Florida native has competed in the Great American Race five times over his career. Whether he makes the field, or misses the field, McLeod will likely leave Thursday night's race smiling ear-to-ear, as he's been happy to drive much more competitive cars over the last few years since gaining the financial assets from the Live Fast charter sale.

The final driver attempting to secure a spot in the 2026 Daytona 500 is JJ Yeley, and while Yeley and the No. 44 NY Racing Team are seen as massive underdogs to make the race, they have been very much in the mix the last couple of seasons in the closing laps of the Duels. In fact, it took miraculous last-lap fights for NASCAR Cup Series champions Jimmie Johnson (2024) and Martin Truex Jr. (2025) to eliminate Yeley and the No. 44 team from the Daytona 500 starting grid.

Yeley, 49, is one of the most experienced drivers in the field, and he has competed in the Daytona 500 six times.

With Truex not running Daytona this season, and Johnson already secured in the field by way of the Open Exemption Provisional, Yeley likely hopes he can just keep it steady and put himself in the same position he's been in the last couple of seasons. If he can do that, he could be the Cinderella Story of the 2026 Daytona 500 by securing his first start in the iconic race since the 2015 season.

The America 250 Duels at Daytona International Speedway are set for Thursday, February 12, and both races will be televised on FS1. The television coverage of the night kicks off with the opening Duel at 7:00 PM ET, and coverage of the second Duel is set to begin at 8:45 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the events on Thursday evening.