Ford led the final Daytona 500 practice with Brad Keselowski leading the pack as he tries to break a 15-year winless streak in “The Great American Race” on Sunday.
Keselowski has had a tough time at Daytona International Speedway. Although he’s often a strong contender, he often gets caught in accidents, which are common in this race. The field this year has 41 cars, the largest number in a decade, and if the Daytona 500 turns out like Saturday’s crash-filled ARCA Series race, it could get chaotic.
This could be a challenge for Keselowski, who has failed to finish in nine Daytona 500 races.
He co-owns Roush Fenway Keselowski, which built a Ford that reached 193.307 mph in Saturday’s 55-minute final practice session.
Alex Bowman, driving a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, followed Keselowski, with Cole Custer, who is back in the Cup Series after moving down to the Xfinity Series, finishing third in a Ford run by Haas Factory after Stewart-Haas Racing shut down.
Justin Allgaier came in fourth, marking a feel-good story for the Daytona 500. His Chevrolet, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., is making its Cup Series debut in the Daytona 500 and is sponsored by country singer Chris Stapleton’s whiskey brand. Earnhardt has been deeply involved in this effort, and he was emotional after Allgaier made it into the field.
Kyle Larson, the 2021 champion who has never won the Daytona 500, was fifth in a Chevrolet, giving Hendrick Motorsports two drivers in the top five.
Alex Bowman stands next to his carCorey Lajoie, who used his kids’ college fund to secure his seat in the Daytona 500, finished sixth in a Ford from Rick Ware Racing.
Ryan Preece finished seventh in a Ford from RFK, Justin Haley was eighth in a Chevrolet from Spire Motorsports, and Chris Buescher completed the top nine, putting all three RFK cars in the top positions. Zane Smith finished tenth, driving another Ford, this time from Front Row Motorsports.
Ford is the only manufacturer showing it can keep up with Toyota, which won the pole with Chase Briscoe, qualified Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. for the race on speed, and won the first of Thursday’s two qualifying races. However, Toyota did not perform as well in the final practice, with Ty Gibbs from Joe Gibbs Racing finishing 13th on the speed chart.
Ford showed its speed with Austin Cindric qualifying second for the Daytona 500 and beating Toyota driver Erik Jones in the finish of their qualifying race. Cindric was 21st on Saturday.
Defending Daytona 500 winner William Byron was 23rd in final practice, and the reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano was 12th. Helio Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner who got into the race using a controversial “world-class driver” provisional spot, was 20th.
Out of the 41 drivers, only 24 practiced on Saturday, as many didn’t want to risk damaging their cars before the big race. Some drivers who skipped the practice include pole-sitter Chase Briscoe, qualifying-race winner Bubba Wallace, and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, all of whom are driving fast Toyotas.
