In the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice on Friday at Daytona International Speedway, manufactures split up in the draft, preparing for the pack racing on Sunday.
The first six positions were nailed down by Toyota drivers. Much like last year’s Daytona 500, the Toyota drivers pushed each other single-file on the bottom line.
After the one-hour practice was complete, Kyle Busch sat atop the leader board at 197.265 mph, .002 seconds ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth (197.256 mph).
Denny Hamlin, winner of Thursday night’s second Can-Am Duel race was third on the board (197.109 mph). Erik Jones was the leading rookie in fourth (197.053 mph) and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top five (197.036 mph).
Martin Truex Jr. was the last of the Toyota brigade in sixth (197.006 mph). The six teams were more than one mph quicker than Aric Almirola who was seventh. Chase Elliott, Ty Dillon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.
28 of the 40 drivers took to the track in the session. David Ragan, who turned the fastest lap in the first practice of the day did not make a single lap in the third practice of the weekend.
12 drivers made a run of at least 10 consecutive laps, Jones topped that chart at 195.933 mph. The other five Toyota drivers were second through sixth in that category.
Brad Keselowski was mired down to 18th in the board, but ran 19 laps, the most of the 28 drivers.
About the author
Dustin joined the Frontstretch team at the beginning of the 2016 season. 2020 marks his sixth full-time season covering the sport that he grew up loving. His dream was to one day be a NASCAR journalist, thus why he attended Ithaca College (Class of 2018) to earn a journalism degree. Since the ripe age of four, he knew he wanted to be a storyteller.
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