DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Joey Logano is a four-time Duel winner at Daytona after a multi-car crash brought out the caution in overtime on Thursday night.
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Casey Mears, one of three Open drivers in the 60-lap race eligible to advance to the Daytona 500, achieved his goal. He transferred to the Great American Race while eliminating Chandler Smith and Corey LaJoie.
MORE: Duel No. 1 results
Logano led the outside line during the final lap of the first Duel race. He had control, and all he needed to do was hold off Brad Keselowski and the inside line. That is, until LaJoie spun off the nose of Daniel Suarez and sparked a multi-car crash.
Once the caution flew, Logano cruised to the checkered flag. He added his fourth Duel win to his resume. This followed up his wins in 2019, 2020, and 2023.
Big trouble on the last lap! Joey Logano wins Duel at Daytona No. 1 under caution. pic.twitter.com/nnPCK7Odrf
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 13, 2026
LaJoie went from racing in fourth place to spinning into the outside wall. Mears saw an opportunity, and he took it. He raced to the outside, swerved around LaJoie and then plowed into Suarez.
This hit damaged the front end of the No. 66 Ford, but at that point, it didn't matter. Mears locked himself into the Daytona 500 and moved one step closer to his goal of 500 starts.
"I got a run around the outside, and I figured I'd stay in the gas no matter what happened," Mears said on pit road. "And when I saw them spinning, I missed the first guy. I thought, 'Okay, good.'
"...I got somebody square. I knew when I hit them flat, it didn't tear up the car too much and I was going to be able to get back. But I didn't know who was in front of me still, whether or not we made it. And then the guys started going nuts on the radio."
The crash at the end of overtime is not the only incident that brought out the caution during the Duel race. Another occurred when Mears made a mistake.
The Ford and Toyota drivers pitted at the end of Lap 44. They went to enter pit road, but they did not exit under green flag conditions. Mears locked up the brakes and spun into Noah Gragson. This sent them both sliding into the infield grass.
The caution is out. Casey Mears and Noah Gragson go for a spin. pic.twitter.com/swI00oxjzD
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 13, 2026
Gragson exited, but Mears remained stuck. This brought out the caution flag and trapped Mears one lap down. It then provided the Chevrolet drivers with an opportunity to make their pit stops under caution.
Once the race resumed, the intensity picked up. Drivers began jockeying for position while running full throttle, and they turned in their fastest laps of the race. As expected, this led to a crash with five laps remaining in the race.
A push gone wrong created calamity. Austin Dillon hit Bubba Wallace from behind. They were not lined up, so Wallace went spinning to the infield. Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney both spun sideways, and Buescher went directly into Smith's path.
This contact changed the tenure of the race. Mears got back on the lead lap, which put him back in contention for a spot in the Daytona 500.
Smith, who had previously been ahead of LaJoie, had to go to pit road for fresh tires. He also had some splitter damage on his Ford Mustang, and he had to work his way back from the rear of the field after receiving a penalty.
Smith could not achieve this. He ended his night in 16th place. He beat LaJoie, who wrecked in overtime, but he still finished behind Mears.
