Daytona 500: Reddick wins Duel #1; Johnson just makes field

Larson appeared to be in a good position entering the final of 60 laps but Reddick dove to the inside of Larson in Turn 3 and cleared for the lead when Alex Bowman got into Larson and briefly made the field three-wide. It was an impressive charge from Reddick, who was outside the top-five at the white flag.

Reddick then held off Chase Elliott by 0.056 seconds to claim the win for Toyota. Bowman finished third, Carson Hocevar fourth and Erik Jones rounded out the top five.

“That’s a great way to start the weekend,” said Reddick, who drives the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing.

“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.”

Over the final six laps, Jimmie Johnson and J.J. Yeley battled furiously for the final transfer position into Sunday’s 500 field. Johnson ended up 12th and claimed the spot as Yeley finished 16th.

Watch: Raw Reaction: Jimmie Johnson races his way into the Daytona 500

Completing the top-10 were Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano,