A Daytona Duel big one ended the second duels race Thursday. It involved aNASCAR Cup Series champion and a highly touted rookie.
Coming to the checkered flag in the second qualifying race, rookie Shane van Gisbergen tried to make a move to the outside and was not clear of Christopher Bell.
After hitting Bell’s bumper, van Gisbergen slammed into the outside retaining wall and cut down into the field, collecting Anthony Alfredo, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, Kyle Larson, BJ McLeod and Cody Ware.
Cars went sliding and spinning all over the tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway, with Larson sliding through the infield grass and other cars sliding over the finish line.
Austin Cindric earned the victory in the duel race after leading Erik Jones as the caution came out feet before the finish line. The caution light froze the field and was used to determine the winner.
Corey LaJoie earned the final transfer spot and qualified for the Daytona 500. LaJoie will start 12th in Sunday’s race.
Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or reach him via email at achastain@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Cup Series: SVG, Kyle Larson in last lap crash of Daytona Duels
