BUY TICKETS: See the Daytona 500 live!
RELATED: Junior returns at Daytona | Practice results
Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to competition for the first time in seven months, but it was Joey Logano in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford who led qualifying practice for the Daytona 500 on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
Logano’s fastest lap of 193.116 mph held firm at the top of the leaderboard after the nearly four-hour practice session and gave him a boost heading into Coors Light Pole Qualifying on Sunday (3:10 p.m. ET, FOX).
However, lots of eyes were on Junior, who missed the final 18 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races in 2016 because of a concussion. Thirty minutes into practice, Junior climbed into the car, then after a debris caution 20 minutes later the No. 88 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports took the track.
Earnhardt Jr.’s first lap was 17th-fastest at 190.504 mph. Junior finished the session in 11th place at 192.670 mph.
“It felt good to just get out there and get to work a little bit and be with the guys and see all the familiar faces in the garage, other drivers and team members and so forth,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Yeah, just trying to put as many laps as I can behind me and get further and further into this deal to where the events from last year become more of a distant memory and don’t define me as who I am so much anymore.”
Behind Logano in second and third place, respectively, were Aric Almirola and Brad Keselowski, both in Fords. Rounding out the top five at the 2.5-mile superspeedway were Kyle Larson in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and another Ford driven by Wood Brothers Racing‘s Ryan Blaney.
This was the only practice scheduled before Sunday’s single-car, two-round qualifying that will set the front row for the 59th running of The Great American Race.
MORE: How the field is set for the Daytona 500