CUP: Heartbreaking disqualification boots Anthony Alfredo out of Daytona 500 field, bumps B.J. McLeod back in

Feb 13

by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Anthony Alfredo finished last in Thursday’s America 250 Florida Duel Race 2 at the Daytona International Speedway when his #62 Dude Wipes Chevrolet finished 18th, only to be disqualified for a technical infraction after he completed all 60 laps.

The 2024 Daytona 500 marked Anthony Alfredo’s first start for Beard Motorsports, a race where he finished 27th. Later that year, he’d go on to finish 6th in the spring race at Talladega – a new career-best. While continuing to fly the flag for sponsor Dude Wipes for Young’s Motorsports in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Alfredo continued to attempt the Cup races on the superspeedways in 2025. After failing to make the 500, he returned to Talladega in April for another career race. This time, he led a career-high 19 laps and was still among the leaders when he ended up stranded on pit road, dropping him to 28th. This year, Alfredo will continue to run full-time in O’Reilly, this time as a teammate to Parker Retzlaff at the now two-car Viking Motorsports.

Alfredo and the Beard team returned to Daytona, seeking to bounce back from their DNQ of a year earlier. He began the weekend 26th of the 43 drivers who participated in opening practice with a lap of 49.041 seconds (183.520mph), ranking him fifth of the eight “open” teams set to contest the final four available starting spots in Sunday’s field. He was the 23rd driver to take time in qualifying, during which he ranked just 35th with a lap of 49.485 seconds (181.873mph). This ranked him fourth among the “open” teams – well short of a locked-in spot on speed, but good enough for 17th on the grid for Race 2 of Thursday’s Duel.

As with Race 1, no drivers were sent to the back for pre-race penalties. With just 22 starters to the 23 in Race 1, the final row consisted of J.J. Yeley’s #44 Built To Work / Barnett Southern Chevrolet, which started to the outside of B.J. McLeod’s flat black #78 Superior Logistics Chevrolet. On the break, Yeley inched ahead of McLeod, who was 1.681 seconds back of the lead. On Lap 2, both moved ahead of Justin Allgaier, whose #40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet locked itself into the 500 field on his qualifying speed. Allgaier pulled out of line on the backstretch and dropped to the rear, followed by Riley Herbst’s #35 Monser Energy Zero Sugar Toyota, which dropped to 21st on Lap 4. Allgaier lost three-tenths to the pack by Lap 6, then eight-tenths on Lap 12, when he was 2.078 seconds back of the lead. By then, Allgaier reported his car had good balance. It was also able to catch the tail end of the field. On Lap 21, he dropped six-tenths back of the field, the closed within three-tenths the next time by and two-tenths the lap after that. He remained in the last spot as the race stayed caution-free.

On Lap 41, with pit stops coming up, Allgaier remained in last place, now 2.650 seconds back of the lead, 1.5 seconds behind now 21st-place McLeod. McLeod took the spot on Lap 45 when he pitted with the cars of Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Briscoe. That same time by, Alfredo led his only lap of the race. McLeod returned to the track 20.652 seconds back of the lead, two seconds behind 21st-place Elliott in the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet. But by Lap 47, both cleared Briscoe, whose #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota was handed a costly penalty for completing a pit stop out of his box.

By Lap 48, McLeod’s spotter informed him of a car running slow on the track. This was Yeley, whose #44 was starting to struggle with several issues. Moments earlier, Yeley was running directly behind McLeod in traffic. But with 13 to go, he slowed as several cars pitted in front of him. Yeley was having brake issues, the pedal going to the floor as he tried to make it to pit road. For the next several laps, he tried to slow in Turn 3, nearly stopped at pit entrance, then continued by himself around the track. He took last on Lap 49, then lost a lap on Lap 50. The crew told him to try and dial in more rear brake, but he was now having radio issues as well. He finally made it to pit road with 10 to go, where he stopped in the first stall at pit entrance. Radio communications indicated the gas man had trouble refueling the car, so Yeley returned to the track on a near-empty tank. “You need to plug in – you’re not plugged in,” said the team. With nine to go, Yeley stayed on the apron as the field rushed past, putting him a second lap down. With six to go, he slowed again and coasted into the pits, where he took on more fuel. He returned to the track a second time, losing a third lap in the final seconds as he stayed below the yellow line on the backstretch.

Yeley finished the race in last place, the only driver off the lead lap a full three down to the leaders. Allgaier finished on the lead lap in 21st, having passed Yeley during his issues. Briscoe didn’t recover from his pit miscue and took 20th. Further ahead, the battle for the last transfer spot was decided between McLeod and Alfredo. While running 18th and 19th on the track, McLeod was a full 27.504 seconds back of the lead. Alfredo, who pulled out of the lead draft in the final laps, was just 4.028 behind, locking up the spot uncontested. On pit road, McLeod quickly came up to Alfredo to congratulate him. Alfredo gave an emotional interview as he celebrated his first Daytona 500 start in two years.

But about an hour later, NASCAR officials revealed Alfredo’s car had failed post-race inspection. A transmission transaxle cooling hose was disconnected from the right-side quarter window, thus failing a test for airtightness. This resulted in a non-appealable disqualification as the penalty was treated like a qualifying infraction rather than a race infraction. McLeod’s car passed inspection soon after, allowing him to inherit Alfredo’s 38th spot on Sunday’s Daytona 500 grid. Alfredo’s disqualification secured McLeod his sixth Daytona 500 start and first since 2023. It also prevented Yeley from becoming the first driver to score three last-place finishes in the Duel races, joining Race 1 in 2012 and Race 2 in 2020.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #62 in the Duel races since February 17, 2022, when Noah Gragson’s own run in Beard Motorsports’ #62 Beard Oil Chevrolet saw him finish three laps down in 21st.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

22) #62-Anthony Alfredo / 60 laps / disqualified

21) #44-J.J. Yeley / 57 laps / running

20) #40-Justin Allgaier / 60 laps / running / led 2 laps

19) #19-Chase Briscoe / 60 laps / running / led 38 laps

18) #78-B.J. McLeod / 60 laps / running