Race Weekend Central

Kyle Busch Paces Third Daytona 500 Practice Amid Danica Patrick Crash

Kyle Busch paced the field in the first Sprint Cup Series action at Daytona since Sunday’s qualifying round, winning the third practice for the Daytona 500 on Wednesday and posting a top speed of 200.776 mph.

Busch was one of three drivers to eclipse the 200 mph mark, along with Jimmie Johnson (200.530) and Trevor Bayne (200.053).

Kasey Kahne slotted in fourth with a speed of 199.858 mph, and Ryan Newman was fifth fastest with a speed of 199.645 mph.

Ron Hornaday, Jr. (188.913 mph) and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (191.290 mph) were the slowest of the cars that took to the track. Six cars did not practice.

Sparks continued to fly as an early practice crash involving Denny Hamlin, Danica Patrick, Michael Annett and Jeb Burton brought out the red flag. Patrick was in a line of cars on the backstretch when she and Hamlin made contact. As she spun into the outside wall, Burton made contact with Annett,m who spun into the grass.

“Riding along and it turned,” Patrick said after the incident. “It’s the nature of pack racing. That’s the gamble. Makes it exciting and frustrating”

Patrick, Burton and Annett will all go to backup cars for tomorrow’s Duels. In Annett’s case, the car will come from his teammate, Justin Allgaier.

For Hamlin, he took the blame in what was his third crash of Speedweeks. He was previously involved in incidents in both the Sprint Unlimited and Daytona 500 qualifying.

“I went through the middle, it was really wide,” he said. “As soon as I already got in beside her, the lane closed and knocked me into [Casey Mears]. Unfortunately some cars got torn up.”

He will not need to go to a backup.

2015 Daytona 500 Practice Results – No. 3

1 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Crispy Toyota 44.826 200.776 
2 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 44.881 200.530
3 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 44.988 200.053
4 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 45.032 199.858
5 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 45.080 199.645
6 62 Brian Scott(i) Shore Lodge Chevrolet 45.101 199.552
7 24 Jeff Gordon Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet 45.127 199.437
8 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 45.155 199.313
9 55 Michael Waltrip Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 45.189 199.164
10 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford 45.192 199.150
11 34 David Ragan Kentucky Fried Chicken Ford 45.193 199.146
12 29 Justin Marks(i) American Born Moonshine Toyota 45.244 198.921
13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 45.256 198.869
14 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 45.294 198.702
15 19 Carl Edwards Arris Toyota 45.298 198.684
16 27 Paul Menard Peak/Menards Chevrolet 45.394 198.264
17 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 45.425 198.129
18 98 Josh Wise Phoenix Construction/Curb Records Ford 45.461 197.972
19 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 45.471 197.928
20 33 Ty Dillon(i) Cheerios/Kroger Chevrolet 45.525 197.694
21 3 Austin Dillon DOW Chevrolet 45.532 197.663
22 40 Landon Cassill CarsForSale.com Chevrolet 45.720 196.850
23 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 45.769 196.640
24 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 45.814 196.447
25 95 Michael McDowell Thrivent Financial Ford 46.027 195.5373
26 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Twisted Tea Ford 46.036 195.499
27 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 46.053 195.427
28 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 46.163 194.961
29 26 Jeb Burton LiveDeal.com Download the App Toyota 46.209 194.767
30 46 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 46.216 194.738
31 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 46.275 194.489
32 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 46.326 194.275
33 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 46.399 193.970
34 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 46.552 193.332
35 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 46.584 193.199
36 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna/McDonald’s Chevrolet 46.711 192.674
37 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/USO Chevrolet 46.756 192.489
38 7 Alex Bowman Toy State/Nikko Chevrolet 46.756 192.489 0
39 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 46.850 192.102
40 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 46.853 192.090
41 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 46.964 191.636
42 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford 47.033 191.355
43 30 Ron Hornaday Jr. Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet 47.641 188.913
44 32 Bobby Labonte C & J Energy Services Ford 0.000 0.000

About the author

Sean returns as a ringer in 2017, contributing once a month because he (gasp!) is living it up in the big city without internet. While he's not consuming race news on the Twitter app and reddit he's writing a ton of short stories and paying the bills by working in marketing.

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