Daytona Beach, FL (Sports Network) - Most Sprint Cup Series teams that
qualified for the Daytona 500 participated in Friday's practice at Daytona
International Speedway, with Carl Edwards posting the fastest lap in the first
session and Kyle Busch the quickest in the second.
During the one-hour morning session, Edwards, the pole sitter for the Daytona
500, turned in a lap at 198.671 mph. Edwards was followed by Richard Petty
Motorsports teammates and fellow Ford drivers Aric Almirola and Marcos
Ambrose.
Juan Pablo Montoya, in a Chevrolet, was fourth fastest. Edwards' Roush Fenway
Racing teammate, Greg Biffle, the outside pole sitter for the 500, completed
the top-five.
Just 16 drivers made laps around the 2.5-mile superspeedway in the opening
session.
In the afternoon session, also an hour long, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle
Busch and Joey Logano were fastest while the two drafted together. Busch and
Logano posted identical lap speeds at 199.885 mph.
Kurt Busch, in a Chevrolet, was third quickest, followed by Denny Hamlin, also
with JGR, and defending series champion Tony Stewart, who won Thursday's first
Gatorade Duel qualifying event in a Chevrolet.
Several teams did more than just turn laps during practice.
"We were just working on coming to pit road, trying to get runs on and off pit
road to see how that works," Biffle said. "We were just changing stuff up a
little bit and running by ourselves a little bit. Mostly, we were working on
getting on and off pit road and working on all those little things."
Twenty-three drivers, including Danica Patrick, hit the track during the final
session of the day. Patrick's team spent the first practice working on her
backup car for the Daytona 500.
In yesterday's first Daytona 500 qualifier, Patrick had a vicious crash during
the final lap. After making contact with Aric Almirola coming out of turn two,
she lost control and then spun along the backstretch apron before the right-
front end of her car slammed hard into the inside retaining wall. Patrick did
not sustain any injuries during the incident, but the front of her primary car
was demolished.
"I feel good, and I'm ready to go," she said during a press conference held
shortly before the start of Friday's practice. "Do I like crashing? Of course
not. I don't think anybody likes crashing, but it's part of the business, and
it's part of big pack racing like this."
There were no incidents that occurred in practice.
Final practice for the Daytona 500 is scheduled for Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
(et). Sunday's 500-mile race is slated to start just after 1 p.m. (et).
The Sports Network