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Denny Hamlin passes Dale Earnhardt Jr. on penultimate lap for Duel win

Denny Hamlin won the 2016 Daytona 500. He’ll start fourth Sunday. (Getty)
Denny Hamlin won the 2016 Daytona 500. He’ll start fourth Sunday. (Getty)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Denny Hamlin thwarted the possibility of a triumphant return for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Hamlin passed Earnhardt Jr. with two laps to go in the second Daytona 500 Duel qualifying race Thursday night and pulled away from Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch over the final lap.

Junior, making his first (albeit unofficial) start since missing the final 18 races of 2016, ended up finishing sixth. He’ll start second for Sunday’s Daytona 500, however, after qualifying there during single-car qualifying last weekend. As the winner of Duel No. 2, Hamlin will start right behind Junior in fourth.

Hamlin, the defending Daytona 500 champion, will also enter the 500 tied with Chase Elliott atop the points standings entering the Daytona 500 with 10 points. Elliott won the first Duel race. As part of changes NASCAR made to its point system in 2017, the top 10 finishers in the Duel qualifying races received points.

Junior started first in the Duel and dominated the entire race, leading 53 of the race’s 60 laps. But as Hamlin got a huge run with Austin Dillon, Busch and Bowyer behind Junior with two laps to go, the No. 88 was helpless to do anything in defense as he had no drafting help behind him.

“I don’t know what I could have done differently to defend that,” Junior said.

DJ Kennington took the final remaining spot for the Daytona 500 by virtue of his 15th-place finish in the race. He beat Elliott Sadler — who was already qualified for the race — among the three cars without guaranteed starting spots. Timmy Hill, the other driver in Duel No. 2 without a guaranteed spot, finished 21 laps down.

1. Denny Hamlin (will start 4th)
2. Clint Bowyer (6th)
3. Kurt Busch (8th)
4. AJ Allmendinger (10th)
5. Austin Dillon (12th)
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2nd)
7. Danica Patrick (14th)
8. Ryan Newman (16th
9. Kyle Larson (18th)
10. Ty Dillon (20th)
11. David Ragan (22nd)
12. Michael McDowell (24th)
13. Jimmie Johnson (26th)
14. Kasey Kahne (28th)
15. DJ Kennington (30th)
16. Elliott Sadler (40th)
17. Michael Waltrip (32nd)
18. Jeffrey Earnhardt (34th)
19. Erik Jones (36th)
20. Ryan Blaney (38th)
21. Timmy Hill (DNQ)

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!