The Xfinity Series QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway did its very best to trump the previous Camping World Truck Series race the night before. In a race that saw 19 lead changes among nine drivers with only four cautions, the Xfinity Series race held its own without the carnage that the previous race provided the fans and television viewers.
Chase Elliott, driving for Junior Motorsports, held off the Sprint Cup regular Joey Logano with an incredible block and crossed the finish line in first. Logano’s Penske-owned #22 threw everything but the kitchen sink at Elliott on the last lap. He managed to finally get around the back bumper in turn four, but was held in second despite caving in the right side of Elliott’s ride.
Chase Elliot and his teams decision to take only gas to save track position paid off in spades. Despite racing on worn tires, the #88 TaxSlayer.com had just enough to stay out front. The young gun officially finished .043 seconds ahead of Logano.
“He blocked it — I got there a little bit late,” Logano acknowledged. “And then I got hooked on his right rear, and that’s what killed my momentum… That contact just stopped my car.”
“Chase obviously did what he had to do there at the end of the race,” Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Elliott’s car owner remarked. “I thought that was very gutsy to be able to really put such an aggressive block on the 22… He did what he had to do to keep the guy behind him, and it won him the race.
“I’m proud of Chase. It’s such a cool thing to be a part of his career. He’s going to do some amazing stuff in his career, and it’s awesome to be a little part of it.” remarked Dale Jr.
It was a chess match that began a few laps before the climatic ending. Logano knew that in the last laps he would not get any help in the draft from Chase Elliott’s teammate Kasey Kahne. So, the faster Logano created enough distance in front of Kahne to leave himself all alone behind Elliot. The #22 then attempted a one on one slingshot around the youthful driver but was literally held back through contact.
The #5 Hellmans Chevrolet driven by Kasey Kahne, who also drives in the Xfinity Series for Junior Motorsports took third. The #1 OneMain Chevrolet, and teammate of Elliott and Kahne, driven by long time NASCAR driver Elliot Saddler took fourth. That gave Junior Motorsports three of the top four spots in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series QQQ 300.
Joey Logano’s second place finish was all to familiar. The Middletown Connecticut native has finished in second place to Denny Hamlin in the Sprint Unlimited race the week prior and second again to Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the first Can-Am duel race on Friday. He did officially have the lead on three different occasions and finished with a race high 40 laps led.
There was four cautions for 17 laps and the race took just under two hours to complete (1:59:04). The Coors Light Pole Award went to Austin Dillion in the #2 Rheem Chevrolet, who rounded out the top five in the fifth position. The Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors went to Brandon Jones, who finished in seventh, in the #33 Barrett-Jackson/Menards Chevrolet. The Mobile 1 Driver of the Race honors was bestowed upon the fourth place driver Elliott Sadler.
| NASCAR Xfinity Series QQQ 300 Race Results: | ||||||||||
| POS | DRIVER | CAR | MANUFACTURER | LAPS | MONEY | START | LED | PTS | BONUS | PENALTY |
| 1 | Chase Elliott |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | Joey Logano |  |
Ford | 120 | 8 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Kasey Kahne |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 15 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Elliott Sadler |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 10 | 4 | 38 | 1 | 0 | |
| 5 | Austin Dillon |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Darrell Wallace Jr. |  |
Ford | 120 | 12 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Brandon Jones |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 7 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Daniel Suarez |  |
Toyota | 120 | 2 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Blake Koch |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 9 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Brendon Gaughan |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 6 | 9 | 32 | 1 | 0 | |
| 11 | Aric Almirola |  |
Ford | 120 | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Justin Allgaier |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 16 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | |
| 13 | Ty Dillon |  |
Chevrolet | 120 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 1 | 0 | |
| 14 | Dakota Armstrong |  |
Toyota | 120 | 18 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Jeremy Clements |  |
Chevrolet | 119 | 37 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Ryan Reed |  |
Ford | 119 | 11 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | John Wes Townley | 05 | Chevrolet | 119 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | David Starr |  |
Toyota | 119 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 | Joe Nemecheck |  |
Toyota | 119 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Ryan Sieg |  |
Chevrolet | 119 | 25 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | Matt Tift |  |
Toyota | 119 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Ross Chastain |  |
Chevrolet | 118 | 36 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | Bobby Labonte |  |
Toyota | 118 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | B.J. Mcleod | 78 | Ford | 118 | 38 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Jeb Burton |  |
Ford | 118 | 21 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | Anthony Kumpen |  |
Chevrolet | 118 | 29 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | Brennen Poole | 48 | Chevrolet | 117 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
| 28 | Chris Cockrum | 25 | Chevrolet | 117 | 35 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | Scott Lagasse Jr. |  |
Chevrolet | 117 | 30 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 | Eric McClure | 0 | Chevrolet | 117 | 33 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Erik Jones |  |
Toyota | 115 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Joey Gase |  |
Chevrolet | 114 | 39 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Ray Black Jr. | 07 | Chevrolet | 114 | 32 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | Kyle Larson |  |
Chevrolet | 111 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | Benny Gordon |  |
Toyota | 103 | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Morgan Shepard |  |
Chevrolet | 59 | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 37 | Jeff Green |  |
Chevrolet | 50 | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 38 | Martin Roy | 90 | Chevrolet | 22 | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 39 | Bobby Gerhart |  |
Chevrolet | 6 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 40 | Ryan Preece |  |
Chevrolet | 5 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
