Daytona 500: Greg Biffle tops final day of testing
Greg Biffle was quickest among those who stayed on for the final day of NASCAR Sprint Cup pre-season testing at Daytona on Saturday
Although many teams chose to abandon the test to save their equipment for next week's Charlotte sessions following Friday's multi-car accident, 21 cars were still present for the final day's first session, with 15 running in the afternoon.
Biffle's pacesetting 46.169s lap came in the second session, as the Roush Fenway Ford driver edged out former team-mate turned Joe Gibbs Toyota racer Matt Kenseth, who had been fastest in the morning, and Kyle Busch in another JGR entry.
Trevor Bayne's time from Friday, set in a drafting pack, remained the best of the three-day test. The 2011 Daytona 500 winner was second behind Kenseth in the morning in his Wood Brothers Ford.
Danica Patrick completed the top three as she continued preparations for her first Cup season with Stewart-Haas.
Teams eschewed pack drafting following Friday's carnage, instead focusing on solo running.
But despite the accident, the general consensus regarding the new Gen-6 car's performance in traffic was positive, with drivers optimistic that the unpopular tandem drafting of recent years would no longer be required.
Morning times: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 46.377s 2. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 46.467s + 0.090s 3. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.476s + 0.099s 4. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 46.519s + 0.142s 5. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.587s + 0.210s 6. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet 46.613s + 0.236s 7. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 46.673s + 0.296s 8. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 46.696s + 0.319s 9. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 46.699s + 0.322s 10. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 46.717s + 0.340s 11. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.717s + 0.340s 12. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 46.740s + 0.363s 13. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 46.868s + 0.491s 14. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 46.880s + 0.503s 15. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 46.917s + 0.540s 16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 46.976s + 0.599s 17. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 46.978s + 0.601s 18. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 47.265s + 0.888s 19. Casey Mears Germain Ford 47.307s + 0.930s 20. Bobby Labonte JTG Toyota 47.670s + 1.293s 21. Kvapil/Reutimann BK Toyota 48.283s + 1.906s Afternoon times: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 46.169s 2. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 46.221s + 0.052s 3. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 46.254s + 0.085s 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 46.295s + 0.126s 5. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 46.354s + 0.185s 6. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.372s + 0.203s 7. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 46.458s + 0.289s 8. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.528s + 0.359s 9. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 46.529s + 0.360s 10. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 46.617s + 0.448s 11. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 46.629s + 0.460s 12. Casey Mears Germain Ford 46.826s + 0.657s 13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 46.828s + 0.659s 14. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 47.295s + 1.126s 15. Kvapil/Reutimann BK Toyota 48.198s + 2.029s
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