The 2024 NASCAR season is about to get underway officially. Two weeks ago, the Cup Series held the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, which was won by Denny Hamlin. The first race of the season is the Daytona 500, and it will run on Sunday, February 18.
The Daytona 500 is one of the biggest races of the entire year. As such, it has a unique qualifying format. Qualifying was held on Wednesday night, but it determined the first two spots of the starting lineup on Sunday. Joey Logano will sit on the pole position and will be joined by Michael McDowell.
The rest of the qualifying helped to set two Duel lineups for Thursday night. Although Logano and McDowell are locked into Sunday’s top two spots, they will be racing in the Duels because the top 10 finishers in each Duel receive points that go toward the regular season standings.
The full field will compete on Thursday in the Bluegreen Vacation Duel races to fill out the starting lineup for Sunday’s race. The finishers from Duel 1 will line up on the inside row in order of their Duel finish, and the finishers from Duel 2 will line up on the outside row in order of their Duel finish.
Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are co-favorites to win the Daytona 500 following Wednesday qualifying. They are installed at +1000 at DraftKings Sportsbook and are followed by Brad Keselowski at +1100 and Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, and Joey Logano at +1200.
Here are the starting lineups for the two 2024 Bluegreen Vacation Duel races.
Duel 1 starting lineup
Duel 1 starting lineup
| Pos | Driver | Car No. |
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Driver | Car No. |
| 1 | Joey Logano | 22 |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | 5 |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
| 4 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
| 5 | Ross Chastain | 1 |
| 6 | Todd Gilliland | 38 |
| 7 | Ryan Preece | 41 |
| 8 | Chris Buescher | 17 |
| 9 | Alex Bowman | 48 |
| 10 | Daniel Suarez | 99 |
| 11 | A.J. Allmendinger | 16 |
| 12 | Daniel Hemric | 31 |
| 13 | Martin Truex Jr | 19 |
| 14 | Bubba Wallace | 23 |
| 15 | Justin Haley | 51 |
| 16 | Christopher Bell | 20 |
| 17 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| 18 | Tyler Reddick | 45 |
| 19 | Carson Hocevar | 77 |
| 20 | B.J. McLeod | 78 |
| 21 | JJ Yelley | 44 |
Duel 2 starting lineup
Duel 2 starting lineup
| Pos | Driver | Car No. |
|---|---|---|
| Pos | Driver | Car No. |
| 1 | Michael McDowell | 34 |
| 2 | Austin Cindric | 2 |
| 3 | William Byron | 24 |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 8 |
| 5 | Harrison Burton | 21 |
| 6 | Riley Herbst | 15 |
| 7 | Chase Briscoe | 14 |
| 8 | Noah Gragson | 10 |
| 9 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
| 10 | Anthony Alfredo | 62 |
| 11 | Josh Berry | 4 |
| 12 | Brad Keselowski | 6 |
| 13 | David Ragan | 60 |
| 14 | Ty Gibbs | 54 |
| 15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 47 |
| 16 | Corey LaJoie | 7 |
| 17 | Jimmie Johnson | 84 |
| 18 | Zane Smith | 71 |
| 19 | John H. Nemechek | 42 |
| 20 | Erik Jones | 43 |
| 21 | Kaz Grala | 36 |