A wild ending for the Daytona 500's Duel #2 as Cindric gets the win

Cindric gets the win, and Erik Jones walks away with a big "what if" after a late caution leads to a chaotic ending.

While Justin Allgaier's hard-fought ninth place finish to make the Daytona 500 — and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s happy tears — overshadowed Bubba Wallace's victory in the first Duel, Thursday's second Duel race built up to an epic photo finish.

Corey LaJoie, running near the front of the field, had his ticket to Sunday's big race largely locked up — but the fight for the win was far from decided. Erik Jones and Austin Cindric, deadlocked while exiting the final corner, both lost their pushers as the field fanned out three-wide in their rearviews. It was a one-on-one race to the line, with Jones barely nosing ahead of Cindric.

Then things got messy.

Who won?

Erik Jones in the No. 43 Mustang and Austin Cindic in the No. 2 Camry head toward a photo finish

Photo by: Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

Mere seconds from the finish line, Shane van Gisbergen got turned mid-pack, causing a multi-car crash. NASCAR quickly threw the yellow flag and, though Jones had crossed the line first, the rules state that whoever was leading at the moment of caution is the winner.

Jones sat celebrating inside his No. 43 Camry as he parked under the flag-stand. Cindric, uninterested in disputing the finish, filed down pit road believing he was the runner-up. But after several minutes of video review, NASCAR made an official announcement: Cindric, barely ahead as the yellow flag flew, was the victor in the Duel #2 race. Fans in the stands started booing.

"I feel bad for Erik"

"A wide range of emotions," said a despondent Jones after the announcement. "Yeah, it's a bummer. It's the rule. I mean, if the yellow is out, the race is over. It's unfortunate... I don't know. I did everything I could. So it just didn't work out. Hopefully we can be in that same spot again Sunday."

Cindric awkwardly walked from the pits to the frontstretch to collect the checkered flag, but the flagman couldn't be found.

"I feel bad for Erik [Jones] having to go all the way over there," said Cindric. "They made a great move on the last lap there. Joey [Logano] and I were sitting ducks with the middle lane fading there... Super proud of my team and everyone to go out here and execute ... Overall, proud of everybody at Team Penske getting lined up there, the execution of the cycle there. It's cool, but there's still a lot to go for the race."

Focusing on Jones, who was still at the finish line during his interview, Cindric added: "I feel so bad he had to drive all the way over there. That's terrible."

In the transfer battle, LaJoie joins Justin Allgaier as the two drivers who raced their way into the show. Helio Castroneves will take a provisional to line up 41st on the grid on Sunday. And four drivers had their Daytona 500 dreams dashed: J.J. Yeley, Chandler Smith, Anthony Aldredo, and BJ McLeod.