DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Defending DAYTONA 500 winner William Byron was fastest in Friday evening’s rain-abbreviated practice – his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet topping the practice chart with a lap of 194.923 mph.
His Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott was second quickest in the No. 9 Chevrolet with 2023 DAYTONA 500 winner, HYAK Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Richard Childress Racing teammates Kyle Busch and 2018 DAYTONA 500 winner Austin Dillon rounding out an all-Chevy top-five.
Only 31 of the 41 cars participated in the 30-minute session. Zane Smith was the fastest Ford in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Mustang – sixth overall. It was a promising rebound following an accident early in Thursday’s Duel 150. Smith confirmed the team was able to repair his primary despite hitting the wall early in the race.
“That was a major bummer because I had been real happy with my car,” Smith said, adding with a smile, “But, I feel good, wish we were racing tonight. The FRM cars on the superspeedways are fast. I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek was the fastest Toyota – 14th overall in the No. 42 Camry. Fellow Toyota driver and DAYTONA 500 polesitter Chase Briscoe placed 16th on the speed chart, running only 14 laps in his No. 19 JGR Toyota in the short time on track.
XFINITY SERIES PRACTICE
A pair of series rookies paced the season’s opening NASCAR Xfinity Series practice with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray turning in a lap of 186.004 mph in the No. 54 Toyota – a very slight .002-second faster than his JGR teammate William Sawalich in the No. 18 Toyota.
JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith, a 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff driver, was third fastest in the No. 8 Chevrolet with Haas Factory Team’s Sheldon Creed and JRM’s Carson Kvapil rounding out the top-five.
Qualifying for Saturday’s United Rentals 300 (5 p.m. ET on the CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is set for 10 a.m. Saturday. Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Hill is attempting to win four consecutive Daytona season-openers. He was 22nd in practice running only a handful of laps. Reigning Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier was 25th quickest, turning only three laps in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet during practice.
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
