Martin Truex Jr. notched the fastest time in Thursday afternoon’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice at Daytona International Speedway prior to Sunday afternoon’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 (1 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: Final practice results | Best 10-lap averages
Truex flew around the 2.5-mile Daytona Beach, Florida, superspeedway at a top speed of 205.936 mph in the No. 19 Toyota. Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones made it a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top-three spots, finishing up the session with respective times of 205.738 mph and 205.724 mph.
Toyota grabbed fourth as well, with Matt DiBenedetto clocking a speed of 205.381 mph in his No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota. Matt Tifft rounded out the top five with a speed of 205.292 mph. In total, six cars eclipsed the 205-mph mark.
A big moment in practice occurred when William Byron saved the No. 24 Chevy from spinning after contact from Brad Keselowski at the entrance of Turn 3. Byron did receive right-rear damage on the car in the process of avoiding a spin after more contact, while Keselowski also received light damage on the front bumper. Keselowski indicated the incident was his way of sending a message to the field: “I’m not lifting.”
RELATED: Byron, Keselowski tangle in final practice
Practice 1
Kyle Busch raced his way to the top of the board in an abbreviated first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice Thursday at Daytona.
Before practice was cut short due to lightning strikes in the area, Busch sped his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a fast lap of 200.754 mph. Busch currently sits second in the point standings, 18 points behind series leader Joey Logano, who clocked in at 199.911 mph — good for 15th-best in the field.
RELATED: First practice results | Best 10-lap averages | Full Daytona schedule
Ty Dillon (No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet, 200.682 mph) and Chris Buescher (No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet, 200.638 mph) also landed near the top of the board, finishing second and third respectively. Jimmie Johnson, coming off a fourth-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway — his best finish of the season — came in at 200.352 mph in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, while fellow Chevrolet driver Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) at 200.347 mph rounded out the top five. All told, 13 drivers topped the 200 mph mark in the session.
Practice ended about 12 minutes early due to a lightning strike in the area.