Story By: SAM MAHONEY / TOYOTA RACING – DAYTONA BEACH, FL – Tyler Reddick scored his and 23XI Racing’s first Duel win at Daytona International Speedway with a great move on the final lap to clinch the third starting spot in the Daytona 500. Reddick led just the final lap on his way to victory. The new Toyota Camry XSE body has now won the Clash and the first Duel race to start its run in NASCAR Cup Series competition. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s Erik Jones led five laps and finished fifth, with Ty Gibbs in eighth.
Jimmie Johnson was in a good spot to qualify for the Daytona 500 for most of the race before getting involved in a late-race incident with nine laps to go. Johnson battled JJ Yeley for position during the final run of the qualifying race with Johnson making the pass on the final lap to clinch his spot in the Daytona 500 field, marking his first official race competing in a Toyota.
Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Daytona International Speedway
Duel 1 – 150 miles, 60 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, TYLER REDDICK
2nd, Chase Elliott*
3rd, Alex Bowman*
4th, Carson Hocevar*
5th, ERIK JONES
8th, TY GIBBS
12th, JIMMIE JOHNSON
14th, MARTIN TRUEX, JR.
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
What did you learn as far as conditions for the race?
“This new Toyota Camry is truly a beast. It was a lot of fun to drive. It’s great to get this Nasty Beast Toyota in victory lane, that’s for sure. As for me, I’m still making a lot of mistakes, but I had a good restart. It was a lot of fun tonight.”
Can you talk about the move that you made at the end of the race?
“Just push. I just kept pushing. Everyone at Toyota and TRD put in great work on this brand-new Camry. It really does help because I can push that much harder. A good first outing for us on the speedway. Certainly, I’ve got to clean up some mistakes. I can’t seem to still hit pit road without hitting something, but hey we still won.”
Are there still things you want to work on with your car?
“I think the car is fine. I just have to work on myself, and I’ve got a few days to think about it. Hopefully, I can be hitting pit road good when I get to Sunday.”
ERIK JONES, No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 5th
How was your race?
“It was a good race. We were faster. Really, we had a car that could’ve won. Just kind of got cycled out bad and caught in a bad spot on the yellow flag coming out and just didn’t end up better than fifth. But, good to get back up there and had to charge back through. Happy for that. Have a good start for this Camry on Sunday and we’ll go from there.”
How much did you learn tonight?
“It was good. We had to kind of race all night. Had that mindset going in just with the new body and new manufacturer just to try to learn and figure out what it was going to do on Sunday. Yeah, it was quick. As soon as the green dropped, I was like, ‘Man, it’s good.’ And we were able to cycle right there to the front. It’s such a short race. Things just didn’t play out good enough for us to try and have a shot between pit road, and then that yellow came out right when we got cycled back to 11th. It just didn’t play out right. The Advent Camry was good, so it makes me look forward to Sunday a lot more than probably last night. We were a little worried about speed and it feels good now.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, No. 84 Carvana Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 12th
What was your experience like tonight racing to get into the Daytona 500?
“Just a really competitive car. This Carvana Toyota Camry was very, very capable in the draft. It was pretty easy to get up to the front and kind of maintain. And, while I was enjoying my position on track, I just knew it was too early, I knew stuff was coming and I knew something would happen. A few things happened after the pit stop that were quite exciting. Thankfully, we were in the right spot at the right time at the checkered flag.”
What was it like those last few laps running with JJ Yeley competing to get into the Daytona 500?
“It was intense. With probably three to go he threw a great block on me on the front stretch and it kind of perked me up and I realized just what kind of battle I was in for in the closing laps. Hats off to them for the hard effort they put into this. This is not easy, and it stinks that a car has got to go home. They put up a heck of a fight and we’re fortunate to get in.”
What did you think coming off turn four to make the Daytona 500?
“Just scrambling for anything. The way things worked out, I found myself at the tail end of the two lines. I just didn’t have anyone to push me and get going. And I just saw some things developing and there was some contact and JJ (Yeley) moved to the outside to avoid a crash. I don’t know how they didn’t crash, and I chose the lane where the crash was taking place. I just had to pick the opposite lane and Days of Thunder action. That lane recovered and recovered quicker to the start finish and I got there to the checkered flag.”
Have you ever been through anything like that before?
“No, I haven’t, and I have such a deeper appreciation and respect for everyone before me that’s had to race in like this.”