Daytona 500 2021: Preview, Top Drivers to Watch in the Duels

The Duels at Daytona typically give us a look at which drivers and teams will be the most competitive at the Daytona 500.

The 2021 edition of the Duels brings a new wrinkle to race preparation since the qualifying session was pushed from Sunday to Wednesday. Wednesday's session will determine the two starters on the front row. Duel 1 determines the starters in odd positions from the second row back and Duel 2 sets the field in even spots. 

Instead of having a few days to adjust, the teams have 24 hours to go from attempting to qualify for the front row to running a 60-lap, 150-mile race. 

In 2020, Joey Logano and William Byron earned the starting positions on the second row. Those victories extended the dominance of Team Penske and Hendrick Motorsports in the event. The two race teams have nine victories at the Duels dating back to 2015.  

However, winning a Duel race does not always guarantee success in "The Great American Race" since Logano and Byron finished outside the top 20 in last year's event.  

Any conversation about potential Duel winners has to start with Logano. The No. 22 car driver took his Ford to Victory Lane in each of the last two years.

Logano achieved success alongside Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski in his Duel last year. Keselowski took fourth. 

Logano's victory in 2020 extended Team Penske's Duels winning streak to three years. Ryan Blaney captured one of the two victories in 2018. 

In 2020, he showed a knack for qualifying high at Daytona. He also started third for the summer race in central Florida. 

In fact, Logano started inside the top 10 for all four superspeedway races in 2020. He began the pair of races at Talladega in eighth and ninth. 

Logano did not turn any of those high starting spots into top 10 finishes, but those performances show he can be strong in short spurts on that type of track. 

If he does not capture the pole on Wednesday, Logano should be in contention to capture one of the Duel crowns. He could be even stronger if Keselowski and Blaney are aligned in the same race as him. 

Any of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers would be a good pick to win one of the two Duels. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott and Byron all took Hendrick cars to Victory Lane in the last six years. 

Elliott won Duels in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018, and he should be viewed as the strongest driver in the Hendrick stable now that Johnson has retired from the NASCAR Cup Series. 

The No. 9 car driver was stuck without any teammates in last year's Duel, when he finished in 13th place in the race won by Logano.

Elliott recorded a second-place finish in the summer and 17th place at the Daytona 500 in 2020. He also thrived at Talladega with a pair of top-11 finishes. 

The 25-year-old's success on superspeedway tracks should make him one of the favorites to win whichever Duel he is entered into.

The case to pick Elliott will get even stronger if one or more of his Hendrick teammates slot into the same race. 

When Byron captured Duel 2 in 2020, Hendrick cars earned a one-two finish with Johnson finishing behind the No. 24 car.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Racing Reference.