Green flag approaching for tonight's Budweiser Duel 150s at Daytona - MotorSportsTalk

The clock is ticking down for tonight’s Budweiser Twin 150 Duels at Daytona International Speedway.

The first Duel takes the green flag at 7 pm ET. The second Duel will follow shortly after the completion of the first race.

Each race is 60 laps and each contains a 24-car field.

This year’s Duels is noteworthy as it will mark the first time in the history of the twin exhibition races that they will be held under the lights at night, making three events during this year’s Speedweeks that have or will be in prime time. The others were last Saturday’s Sprint Unlimited, won by Denny Hamlin, and Friday’s Camping World Trucks Series season opener.

Five drivers will ultimately not make the 43-car field for Sunday’s 56th Daytona 500. Dave Blaney withdrew earlier Thursday and will not make this year’s 500.

Here’s the field breakdown and starting positions:

Budweiser Duel No. 1

1. Austin Dillon

2. Greg Biffle

3. Ryan Newman

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

6. Marcos Ambrose

7. Aric Almirola

8. Joey Logano

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Kasey Kahne

11. Kyle Busch

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Danica Patrick

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Reed Sorenson

16. David Gilliland

17. Parker Kligerman

18. Tony Stewart

19. Brian Vickers

20. Cole Whitt

21. Michael McDowell

22. Josh Wise

23. Joe Nemechek

24. Alex Bowman

Budweiser Duel No. 2

1. Martin Truex Jr.

2. Carl Edwards

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Jeff Gordon
5. Paul Menard

6. Brian Scott

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Casey Mears

9. Michael Annett

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Kyle Larson

13. Trevor Bayne

14. Kurt Busch

15. Justin Allgaier

16. Landon Cassill

17. Michael Waltrip

18. Eric McClure

19. Jamie McMurray

20. David Ragan

21. Terry Labonte

22. Bobby Labonte

23. Ryan Truex

24. Morgan Shepherd

The NTT IndyCar Series will be sharing Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the NASCAR Cup Series in a race weekend doubleheader for the second consecutive season, but both series will be on the road course in August 2021.

IMS announced Wednesday that IndyCar will hold an Aug. 14, 2021 race on its 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. It’ll be a day before NASCAR’s premier series runs the same layout for the first time after the Brickyard 400 was contested on the 2.5-mile oval for the first time in 27 years.

This season’s rescheduling of the IndyCar GMR Grand Prix to July 4, 2019 (a day before the Brickyard 400) led to the first NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader weekend. The Xfinity Series also raced on the IMS road course for the first time July 4 after the IndyCar race ended.

INDYCAR AT IMS THIS WEEKEND: Harvest GP schedule, entry lists

IndyCar will be holding its second race weekend this year at the IMS road course Friday and Saturday with the Harvest GP.

“Our first NASCAR-INDYCAR weekend was a big success last July, with positive feedback from
our loyal fans who watched the races on NBC and from the drivers, teams and participants
involved,” IMS president Douglas Boles said in a statement. “The Xfinity Series’ debut on the IMS road course provided exactly the kind of thrilling action from the green to checkered flags that we anticipated, so we know the teams and drivers of the Cup Series will put on a great show as they turn left and right for the first time at IMS.

“We can’t wait to welcome back fans to see NASCAR and INDYCAR together during this
exciting weekend as we add another memorable chapter in the long, storied history of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”

It also will mark the first NASCAR Cup-IndyCar doubleheader with a crowd as fans weren’t permitted at IMS in July because of the novel coronvavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Over the course of Wednesday, NASCAR is releasing its 36-race slate for next season. IndyCar has yet to release its full 2021 schedule.

Green flag approaching for tonight’s Budweiser Duel 150s at Daytona

IndyCar teams with NASCAR on IMS road course doubleheader in 2021