NASCAR Duels 2023: TV Schedule, Live-Stream Info and Predictions

On Wednesday night, each of the 42 drivers entered into the 2023 Daytona 500 will take the track at Daytona International Speedway for qualifying for the Great American Race. The two who post the fastest lap times will start on the front row for Sunday's season-opening event.

However, unlike every other race on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar, the rest of the starting order won't be determined by the qualifying session. Instead, Rows 2-21 will be set by the results of the Bluegreen Vacations Duels, which will be held Thursday night.

The duels are a pair of 60-lap, 150-mile races used to set the starting order for the Daytona 500 each year. The drivers who qualify first and second will participate, but their starting spots will have already been locked in. One duel will determine the starting order for the inside row, while the other sets the positions on the outside row.

Here's everything else you need to know heading into the 2023 Bluegreen Vacations Duels.

Wednesday, Feb. 15

Pole qualifying, 8:15 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

Thursday, Feb. 16

Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1, 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2, approximately 8:45 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

Sunday, Feb. 19

Daytona 500, 2:30 p.m. ET, Fox

All events can be streamed live on the Fox Sports app

It's been a little while since a Hendrick Motorsports driver has been victorious in a duel race at Daytona. William Byron notched a victory at one in 2020, but he's the only person from the team to do so over the past four seasons.

Of course, part of the reason for that has been Hendrick's success in Daytona 500 pole qualifying. Last year, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman started on the front row for the Great American Race, so there wasn't much pressure to perform well in their duel appearances.

Hendrick Motorsports is again fielding a talented roster of drivers in 2023, with Larson, Bowman, Byron and Chase Elliott all back with the team for another season. Those four should combine for a large number of wins during the upcoming Cup Series campaign.

It's also likely that the quartet could have strong showings during Daytona 500 week. Larson may be in the mix for the pole position again, but any of the other three could also end up on the front row for Sunday's race.

If none of the four start first or second, though, the odds of one of them winning a duel race will go up. After all, if they're all motivated to try to earn the best starting position possible, then it seems likely that one could be heading to Victory Lane on Thursday night.

Elliott is a two-time duel winner, as he notched wins in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018. So maybe he'll be the one to finish first in one of Thursday's sprints. The 27-year-old has fared well at the Daytona 500 in recent years, placing second in 2021 and 10th last year.

But no Hendrick driver has been victorious at the Great American Race since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2014. Perhaps a duel win could be the momentum boost that one of Larson, Elliott, Bowman or Byron needs to also race to victory on Sunday.

Don't be surprised if Hendrick Motorsports has several drivers near the front of the field at the start of this year's Daytona 500. And the prediction here is that Elliott will be starting on either the first or second row after winning a duel on Thursday night.

Bubba Wallace has never celebrated in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. But the 29-year-old has come quite close to getting there.

Last year, Wallace finished second in the Daytona 500. It was the second time in his career that he opened the Cup Series season with a runner-up performance in the Great American Race, as he also did so as a rookie in 2018.

There are several reasons to believe Wallace is poised for a strong showing at Daytona this week. And he may finally get a win in at least one of the upcoming events.

Wallace has fared well at superspeedways over his first five full Cup Series seasons. He's finished in the top 15 in nine of the 11 points races he's competed in at Daytona and ended up worse than 17th only once. Plus, one of his two career victories came at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2021.

Coming into 2023, Wallace has momentum from a strong finish to the 2022 season. He had four top-10 finishes over his final nine races, which included a win at Kansas Speedway last September.

So Wallace seems to be in a good spot heading into this year's Daytona 500. He's thrived at the track, and he's beginning to have more success in the Cup Series after experiencing some struggles in the early years of his career.

Wallace has a good chance to get things started off on a positive note on Wednesday and Thursday nights. If he doesn't qualify on the front row, expect him to be a top contender in one of the duel races.