Daytona 500: Dale Earnhardt Jr tops final practice for Hendrick
Dale Earnhardt Jr topped final practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup season-opening Daytona 500
The Hendrick Motorsport driver, who will start Sunday's race from the third, turned in a lap of 45.655 seconds to go fastest.
Team Penske team-mates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski were second and fourth quickest, split by Ryan Blaney's affiliated Wood Brothers Racing car, as the Ford trio drafted together on track.
Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick completed the top six for Stewart-Haas Racing.
500 polesitter Chase Elliott lapped eighth fastest, ahead of Tony Stewart's stand-in Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer.
Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Brian Scott, all running back-up cars after their crashes in the Duel qualifying races, were 18th, 21st and 23rd respectively.
Twenty five of the 40 cars qualified for the 500 took to the track in final practice, with Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, 2015 Cup champion Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr among those sitting out the session.
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PRACTICE TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 45.655s | - | 8 |
2 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 45.832s | 0.177s | 29 |
3 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 45.851s | 0.196s | 29 |
4 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 45.857s | 0.202s | 29 |
5 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 45.904s | 0.249s | 23 |
6 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 45.915s | 0.260s | 10 |
7 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 45.928s | 0.273s | 7 |
8 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 45.956s | 0.301s | 16 |
9 | Brian Vickers | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 45.962s | 0.307s | 10 |
10 | Clint Bowyer | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 45.974s | 0.319s | 15 |
11 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 46.098s | 0.443s | 20 |
12 | Regan Smith | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 46.122s | 0.467s | 13 |
13 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.297s | 0.642s | 22 |
14 | David Ragan | BK Racing | Toyota | 46.300s | 0.645s | 6 |
15 | Robert Richardson Jr. | BK Racing | Toyota | 46.310s | 0.655s | 15 |
16 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 46.325s | 0.670s | 7 |
17 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.339s | 0.684s | 7 |
18 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46.459s | 0.804s | 18 |
19 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 46.614s | 0.959s | 9 |
20 | Ty Dillon | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 46.644s | 0.989s | 11 |
21 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 46.679s | 1.024s | 30 |
22 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 46.826s | 1.171s | 24 |
23 | Brian Scott | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 46.836s | 1.181s | 23 |
24 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 47.093s | 1.438s | 14 |
25 | Chris Buescher | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 47.271s | 1.616s | 19 |
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