NASCAR Daytona 500: Front Row Ford's McDowell leads final practice
Front Row Motorsports Ford driver Michael McDowell set the pace in the final practice session for the NASCAR Cup season-opening Daytona 500 on Saturday
McDowell set his top average speed of 191.440mph early in the 50-minute session with a 47.012-second while drafting with the Germain Motorsports Chevrolet of Ty Dillon.
Dillon (pictured below) ended up second-fastest, 0.002s off McDowell, while pole-winner William Byron and his front row partner Alex Bowman were third and fourth in their Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets.
Only 21 of the 40 cars entered in the race elected to take to the track on Saturday, and of the Toyota squads only Parker Kligerman of part-time entrant Gaunt Brothers Racing participated.
There were no incidents during the session, and Kurt Busch completed the most laps with 16.
Saturday practice was the last track activity for the majority of the Cup field before the 500 on Sunday afternoon, although a handful of the entrants - including Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski - will contest the Xfinity Series season-opener later on Saturday.
Final practice times
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 47.012s | - | 9 |
| 2 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 47.014s | 0.002s | 5 |
| 3 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.037s | 0.025s | 5 |
| 4 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.052s | 0.040s | 10 |
| 5 | Daniel Hemric | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 47.140s | 0.128s | 3 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 47.276s | 0.264s | 4 |
| 7 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.279s | 0.267s | 14 |
| 8 | Daniel Suarez | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 47.336s | 0.324s | 2 |
| 9 | Jamie McMurray | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.339s | 0.327s | 12 |
| 10 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 47.367s | 0.355s | 11 |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 47.433s | 0.421s | 16 |
| 12 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 47.573s | 0.561s | 5 |
| 13 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 47.592s | 0.580s | 3 |
| 14 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 47.617s | 0.605s | 8 |
| 15 | Matt Tifft | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 47.665s | 0.653s | 7 |
| 16 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 47.712s | 0.700s | 10 |
| 17 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 47.767s | 0.755s | 3 |
| 18 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 47.976s | 0.964s | 10 |
| 19 | Parker Kligerman | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 48.000s | 0.988s | 5 |
| 20 | Landon Cassill | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 48.318s | 1.306s | 6 |
| 21 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | - | - | 0 |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
NASCAR Cup Texas: Late clash helps Elliott end 42-race winless streak
NASCAR Cup Martinsville: Byron leads emotional Hendrick 1-2-3
How NASCAR is gearing up for its "biggest change" in 2022
NASCAR Daytona 500: Logano earns pole, Fords lock out front row
NASCAR Cup Indianapolis: McDowell beats Elliott to book playoff spot with win
Daytona 500 winner McDowell "never lost hope" amid long win drought
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Russell: Mercedes locked in F1 "battle of fine margins"
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments