Paul Menard topped the leaderboard in Friday’s fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Daytona International Speedway at 200.758 mph in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.
Right behind him was Jamie McMurray in the No. 40 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet at 200.696 mph. McMurray was the only Chevrolet in the top 10.
MORE: Fourth practice results
Rounding out the top five were Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, Ryan Newman in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford and Clint Bowyer in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
The entire Joe Gibbs Racing fleet sat out this practice with 2016 Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin indicating the No. 11 team is done practicing for the weekend.
https://twitter.com/dennyhamlin/status/1096499753557413893
The final practice session before Sunday’s Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is set for Saturday at 12:05 p.m. ET on FS1.
Practice 3
Joe Gibbs Racing dominated Friday’s third Daytona 500 practice session for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Kyle Busch jumped on top with a fast lap speed of 200.285 mph in the No. 18 M&M’s Chocolate Bar Toyota. Martin Truex Jr. followed in second with a lap of 200.200 in the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota.
RESULTS: Full Practice 3 speeds
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Ryan Preece practiced for 17 laps in his No. 47 Kroger.com Chevrolet and finished the practice session in third. He ran a best lap speed of 200.169 mph. This is Preece’s first Daytona 500.
Busch was also near the top of the leaderboard in the first Daytona 500 practice session last Saturday, when he finished in second behind Truex with a best speed of 195.852.
The 2015 champion was involved in an incident on Lap 35 of the Gander RV Duel No. 2 with Jimmie Johnson on Thursday night, where his left-rear quarter panel was clipped by the right-front bumper of Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet. Busch went for a spin down the backstretch but was able to avoid more damage.
He will start 31st on Sunday for the Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).