Jimmie Johnson wins Duel 2; Danica barely makes 500 field
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jimmie Johnson won the second Budweiser Duel on Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway, but the drama happened well behind him.
Danica Patrick raced her way into the Daytona 500 field by moving from 18th to 10th on the final lap after a crash with four laps to go had damaged her car.
Meanwhile, David Ragan had an impressive comeback and rallied after he was crashed and one lap down.
Kyle Busch finished second, followed by Carl Edwards.
With four laps to go, Patrick spun off the front of Denny Hamlin's nose. Bobby Labonte, Brian Scott and Ryan Newman also got a piece of the wreck.
"I cannot believe Denny wrecked me again," Patrick said.
PHOTOS: 2015 Budweiser Duel at Daytona
Patrick and Hamlin exchanged heated words following the race with Patrick looking for an explanation and Hamlin trying to plead his case.
"I try to treat everyone as equal," Hamlin said, "and if you're in this Cup Series then you deserve your way here. I got close to her and she got loose again. So I tried to explain, 'Danica, I can't just say, 'Oh, it's you, so I've got to stay away two feet because your car is loose.' I guess I just have to give more room because once I get close enough to her, her car just gets out of control."
David Ragan spun out and damaged his car at the one-third point of the race, which nearly caused him to miss the Daytona 500. New Front Row Motorsports driver Cole Whitt got Ragan's owner points when he joined the team, so Ragan was left with no cushion if he didn't finish in the top 15.
Later, a four-car wreck was triggered when rookie Jeb Burton turned Sam Hornish Jr., who clipped Alex Bowman. All the drivers wrecked, along with Austin Dillon.
Bowman, Burton, Ron Hornaday, Justin Marks, and Josh Wise failed to qualify for the Daytona 500.
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DUEL 2 RESULTS
1. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 64 laps, 138.8 rating, 0 points.
2. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 64, 124.9, 0.
3. (3) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 64, 109.5, 0.
4. (6) Greg Biffle, Ford, 64, 92, 0.
5. (5) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 64, 103.8, 0.
6. (9) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 64, 86.3, 0.
7. (20) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 64, 48.8, 0.
8. (23) Mike Wallace, Toyota, 64, 61.7, 0.
9. (17) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 64, 68.9, 0.
10. (15) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 64, 64.4, 0.
11. (13) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 64, 45.3, 0.
12. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 64, 62.5, 0.
13. (18) David Gilliland, Ford, 64, 60.1, 0.
14. (21) David Ragan, Ford, 64, 60.4, 0.
15. (4) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 64, 81.6, 0.
16. (8) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 64, 59.2, 0.
17. (16) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 64, 62.3, 0.
18. (24) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 64, 77.3, 0.
19. (10) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 64, 41.6, 0.
20. (11) Bobby Labonte, Ford, accident, 60, 40.9, 0.
21. (7) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, accident, 36, 72.3, 0.
22. (19) Jeb Burton, Toyota, accident, 36, 36.2, 0.
23. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, accident, 36, 48.2, 0.
24. (22) Josh Wise, Ford, electrical, 1, 24.1, 0.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 144.724 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 6 minutes, 20 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.125 seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 12 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Ky.Busch 1-21; C.Edwards 22; J.Johnson 23; A.Dillon 24; J.Johnson 25-39; M.Truex Jr. 40; J.Johnson 41-64.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Johnson, 3 times for 40 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 21 laps; C.Edwards, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Truex Jr., 1 time for 1 lap; A.Dillon, 1 time for 1 lap.
PHOTOS: History of the Daytona 500