DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—NASCAR Cup Series drivers got one final chance to shake down their cars for Sunday’s DAYTONA 500 in a 50-minute practice on Saturday, and the session began immediately with 14 cars in a prolonged draft.
The large pack included the Fords of Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie and Cole Custer, along with the Chevrolets of Justin Allgaier, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and Justin Haley and the lone Toyota of Ty Gibbs.
The size of drafting pack diminished as cars came to pit road, ultimately leaving just the Roush Fenway Keselowski cars of Buescher, Preece and Keselowski drafting together. Those three drivers came to pit road after 27 consecutive laps, completed one more lap each and took their cars to the garage for the balance of the session.
Keselowski set the fastest lap of final practice on his fifth circuit, covering the 2.5-mile distance at Daytona International Speedway in 46.558 seconds (193.307 mph). Bowman was second fastest at 193.274 mph, followed by Custer, Allgaier and Larson.
Bowman had the fastest 10-lap average in the draft at 191.563 mph, followed by Custer (191.445 mph) and Larson (191.405 mph).
A wreck in Thursday’s Duel at Daytona forced Daniel Suarez into a backup No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Suarez turned 11 laps Saturday, with a top speed of 191.266 mph on his 10th circuit.
“Our guys put in a lot of hours these last two days,” Suarez said. “So really proud of these guys for all the hard work… I think we’re going to have something good for (Sunday).”
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
