Welcome back, Jimmie Johnson.
With about 10 minutes to spare in Friday’s (Feb. 17) NASCAR Cup Series practice for the Daytona 500, seven-time champion Johnson found himself on top of the practice session.
The No. 84 for Legacy Motor Club set the fastest lap at 194.23 mph.
Fellow Chevrolet drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Elliott and polesitter Alex Bowman following closely behind in spots second through fourth, respectively.
The winner of the Bluegreen Vacations Duel two Thursday (Feb. 16), Aric Almirola, led the Fords in fifth, followed by Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney in sixth and seventh.
Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick ended up eighth and ninth, and defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Zane Smith rounded out the top 10.
The fastest Toyota was Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum winner Martin Truex Jr., who clocked in 17th.
Most teams used the practice to practice drafting with one another and pulling on to pit road for green-flag stops.
The only team to not participate in today’s practice was Kaulig Racing, which will field the Nos. 16 and 31 for AJ Allmendinger and Justin Haley.
Daytona Cup Practice Results
A second practice session will be held tomorrow (Feb. 18), and the 65th running of the Daytona 500 will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET Feb. 19 on FOX.
About the author
Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on Twitter @WyattGametime
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HTF is that possible?
He was probably in a pack of cars and timed his run to the finish line behind a fast car.
I think watching this guy back in CUP is as exciting as watching paint dry. Yawn. And him stinking in his other hobby in the other series and he comes back and is fast, etc. LLOOOLLLOOOLLLLL. Did anybody miss him in CUP, his name was never even mentioned in his retirement! Jimmie who, nobody seemed to have him in their dialogue post retirement!