Schrader tops final practice

Schrader, in his new Wood Brother's berth, lapped the 2.5-mile Super Speedway in 46.708 seconds, 0.044 seconds faster than Martin Truex Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr was third, on the fifth anniversary of his father's death at this race track.

The majority of the drivers chose to run the session as a final shakedown of their cars in a session that passed off with little incident.

Bobby Labonte's engine failed in the session after 34 laps and Brian Vickers escaped a brief brush with the Turn 3 wall.

Jeff Gordon, many people's favourite to take his fourth Daytona 500 victory tomorrow, chose to sit out the session and preserve his car for the main event.

Pos  Driver               Make        Speed
 1.  Ken Schrader         Ford        192.686
 2.  Martin Truex Jr.     Chevrolet   192.505
 3.  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Chevrolet   191.992
 4.  Jeff Green           Chevrolet   191.714
 5.  Kevin Lepage         Ford        191.701
 6.  Dale Jarrett         Ford        191.506
 7.  Sterling Marlin      Chevrolet   191.485
 8.  Kyle Petty           Dodge       191.379
 9.  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet   191.136
10.  Brent Sherman        Dodge       191.079
11.  Jeremy Mayfield      Dodge       190.937
12.  Reed Sorenson        Dodge       190.900
13.  Bobby Labonte        Dodge       190.819
14.  Denny Hamlin         Chevrolet   190.722
15.  Greg Biffle          Ford        190.714
16.  Brian Vickers        Chevrolet   190.674
17.  J.J. Yeley           Chevrolet   190.674
18.  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet   190.670
19.  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet   190.621
20.  Joe Nemechek         Chevrolet   190.460
21.  Bill Elliott         Chevrolet   190.424
22.  Mark Martin          Ford        190.355
23.  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet   190.219
24.  Jamie McMurray       Ford        189.966
25.  Kurt Busch           Dodge       189.861
26.  Ryan Newman          Dodge       189.849
27.  Elliott Sadler       Ford        189.821
28.  Matt Kenseth         Ford        189.793
29.  Robby Gordon         Chevrolet   189.629
30.  Carl Edwards         Ford        189.438
31.  Michael Waltrip      Dodge       189.278
32.  David Stremme        Dodge       188.675
33.  Travis Kvapil        Chevrolet   188.573
34.  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet   188.569
35.  Kasey Kahne          Dodge       188.466
36.  Dave Blaney          Dodge       188.352
37.  Terry Labonte        Chevrolet   188.225
38.  Kyle Busch           Chevrolet   188.056
39.  Casey Mears          Dodge       187.970
40.  Kirk Shelmerdine     Chevrolet   187.426
41.  Kenny Wallace        Chevrolet   185.973