Ricky Stenhouse Jr leads Ford sweep of final Daytona 500 practice
Ricky Stenhouse Jr led an all-Ford top six in the final practice session ahead of Sunday's NASCAR Cup season-opening Daytona 500
Roush Fenway driver Stenhouse posted the fastest lap with a 45.351-second effort at an average speed of 198.452 mph.
He was followed by five fellow Ford drivers - Penske's Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, then Stewart-Haas's Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer.
The session was interrupted by a brief light rain shower but there was no significant loss of track time.
Few cars participated in the final 20 minutes and only 28 of the 40 qualifiers ran at all.
Gaunt Brothers Racing's DJ Kennington was the sole Toyota on track, with the Japanese firm's lead squad Joe Gibbs Racing among those opting to save their equipment for Sunday's race.
Gibbs drivers Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch head into the 500 among the favourites, having dominated last Sunday's non-championship Clash race before a last-lap collision between Hamlin and Keselowski let Logano through to win.
Last year's 500 winner Hamlin then triumphed in one of Thursday night's Duel qualifying races, with Sunday's polesitter Chase Elliott winning the other for Hendrick Motorsports.
Elliott and front row partner Dale Earnhardt Jr were back in 21st and 19th respectively in Saturday afternoon's practice session, with Earnhardt experiencing some vibrations cured by a driveshaft adjustment.
PRACTICE TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 45.351s | - | 7 |
2 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 45.743s | 0.392s | 9 |
3 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 45.744s | 0.393s | 10 |
4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 45.749s | 0.398s | 10 |
5 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 45.755s | 0.404s | 24 |
6 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 45.761s | 0.410s | 10 |
7 | Elliott Sadler | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 45.782s | 0.431s | 9 |
8 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 45.785s | 0.434s | 10 |
9 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 45.814s | 0.463s | 11 |
10 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 45.833s | 0.482s | 36 |
11 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 45.833s | 0.482s | 17 |
12 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 45.908s | 0.557s | 15 |
13 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport / TMG | Chevrolet | 45.925s | 0.574s | 17 |
14 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 45.967s | 0.616s | 16 |
15 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 46.103s | 0.752s | 17 |
16 | Brendan Gaughan | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.128s | 0.777s | 9 |
17 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.139s | 0.788s | 24 |
18 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 46.160s | 0.809s | 11 |
19 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.279s | 0.928s | 30 |
20 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 46.317s | 0.966s | 15 |
21 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.346s | 0.995s | 12 |
22 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 46.369s | 1.018s | 7 |
23 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 46.446s | 1.095s | 9 |
24 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 46.596s | 1.245s | 19 |
25 | D.J. Kennington | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 46.677s | 1.326s | 14 |
26 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 47.401s | 2.050s | 16 |
27 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 47.551s | 2.200s | 13 |
28 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 48.089s | 2.738s | 2 |
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