Bubba Wallace won the first of two qualifying races for the Daytona 500. He showed enough speed to make him one of the favorites heading into “The Great American Race.”

Bubba Wallace won his first Daytona 500 qualifying race as Justin Allgaier ensured JR Motorsports will start its first Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. In the opening Daytona 500 Duel qualifying race Thursday night,

Last year it was his teammate Tyler Reddick and tonight it was Bubba Wallace who won the first Duel at Daytona race. Winning a Duel race is a bucket list item for some NASCAR drivers, and Wallace is happy to have won one.