DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Joey Logano of Team Penske secured victory in the first of two qualifying races for the 68th Daytona 500 on Thursday night, but the evening’s most dramatic story unfolded in the battle to secure the final spots in Sunday’s main event. Veteran driver Casey Mears, piloting the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford, earned a surprising and hard-fought berth in the field after a chaotic final lap.
Logano, starting sixth, utilized the high line to capture the lead and ultimately crossed the finish line ahead of teammate Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, John-Hunter Nemechek, and Brad Keselowski. The win earns Logano a third-place starting position for the Daytona 500 and 10 points in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, placing him atop the leaderboard.
However, the focus quickly shifted to the open car battle for the remaining two starting positions. Corey LaJoie appeared poised to lock in his spot until a late-race wreck on the final lap. “It looked good for 145.5 miles,” a dejected LaJoie said after being checked and released from the infield care center. “I thought we controlled the race as good as you can control it. The bottom lane got soft there, and the push came right as I picked the #6 [Keselowski] up, and it just turned me to the right. That sucks, man. These guys worked incredibly hard on this car. I’m honestly happy for Casey Mears and (team owner) Carl Long — it’s cool those guys got in, but I’m devastated. This is what you work for and I don’t have another one after this.”
Amidst the chaos, Mears, who had earlier spun and fallen a lap down, refused to lift off the accelerator as a multi-car wreck unfolded in front of him. He drove directly through the wreckage, sustaining nose damage but maintaining speed and ultimately crossing the finish line in seventh place – enough to secure his place in the Daytona 500. Chandler Smith, the other open entry, failed to qualify.
“Probably a little bit about the power of prayer, there was a lot of that going on inside the car,” Mears laughed, visibly shocked after the race. “Just couldn’t thank everybody enough for getting us here to begin with. Had an issue on pit road, but I got a run around the outside. Decided to stay in the gas, no matter what happened. When I saw them spinning and I missed the first guy (Lajoie), I thought, okay, good, and then I hit the #7 (Suarez). Anyway, I hit somebody square…and I knew when I hit him 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. All the guys started going nuts on the radio.”
The race saw several early lead changes, with RFK Racing initially establishing a strong presence at the front of the field. A caution flag with 15 laps remaining, triggered by Mears’ earlier spin and contact with Gragson, reshuffled the running order and set the stage for a dramatic finish. Bubba Wallace was similarly involved in a late-race incident, spinning across the track but avoiding significant damage. The wreck also impacted drivers like Byron, Buescher, and Smith.
This will be Mears’ 14th start in the Daytona 500, and his first since the 2019 season, marking his 495th career start in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Daytona 500 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 15.