DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Unloaded and unleashed.
NASCAR teams took out the Next Gen cars for their first official hot laps around Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday. There were two 50-minute practice sessions in preparation for Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The reigning Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, welcomed in the new era as the first driver to roll out of the garage. And the defending Daytona 500 winner, Michael McDowell, closed out the day’s work with the fastest lap time overall.
DAYTONA 500: Weekend schedule | Betting odds | All-time winners
“These cars are definitely bouncing a little more,” McDowell said. “I don’t think they drive any harsher. Like last year, the cars were low to the ground as well and were pretty stiff. It’s just a different feel altogether. …
“I also think that there’s a lot of people that were trying things in those first two practices – see what they can get away with, how aggressive you can be. There’s a lot of cars with a lot of reverse skew, bouncing and moving around quite a bit. Some of them look very un-fun driving. But come race day, you’re going to need something that you can be aggressive with.”
McDowell posted the best lap time in the opening practice at 46.696 seconds and 192.736 mph. Ryan Blaney turned the quickest circuit during the second go-around at 46.732 seconds and 192.588 mph. Fords swept the top five slots in both portions, even going for all 10 in the latter.
For comparison from 2021: Bubba Wallace claimed top rank of Practice 1 at 45.057 seconds and 199.747 mph. Brad Keselowski topped the Practice 2 leaderboard at 45.826 seconds and 196.395 mph.
TUESDAY: Practice 1 results | Practice 2 results | Overall practice recap
Speedweeks has two more practices on tap, but they’re not until Friday and Saturday. Qualifying is Wednesday, and both of the Bluegreen Vacation Duels are Thursday.
“I’m just gonna say it: You’re going to minimize your risk,” McDowell said. “I mean, you’re not going to put yourself in a really bad situation on purpose. For me, I won’t. Just because of where we’re at from an inventory standpoint, how important all the races are. And yes, it does pay points, so if you can put yourself in position to score some stage points, you’re going to want to do that. But it’s really a risk. It’s probably not worth it on Thursday. It’s definitely worth it on Sunday.”
SPEEDWEEKS: Entry lists, qualifying procedure and more
Three teams made their NASCAR debut: Team Hezeberg with Jacques Villeneuve in the No. 27 Ford, NY Racing Team with Greg Biffle in the No. 44 Chevrolet and The Money Team Racing with Kaz Grala driving the No. 50 Chevy.
And then there were two remixed teams in Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (Keselowski and Chris Buescher in the Nos. 6 and 17 Fords, respectively) and Petty GMS Motorsports (Ty Dillon and Erik Jones in the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolets, respectively).
Then – yes, there’s more – existing teams added new entries. Trackhouse Racing adopted Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Chevy, and 23XI Racing gained Kurt Busch in the No. 45 Toyota. Kaulig Racing upgraded to the Cup Series level, too, with Justin Haley in the No. 31 Chevrolet and Daniel Hemric (as a part-timer) in the No. 16 Chevy.
Other moves worth remembering: Austin Cindric (No. 2 Team Penske Ford) and Harrison Burton (No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford) have both moved up from the Xfinity Series.
SILLY SEASON: Track all of the Cup Series movement
Suffice to say, Tuesday involved more than blowing the dust off the garage.
“Coming to Daytona is special, it always is,” McDowell said. “Driving through the tunnel, you kind of get that feeling. I’m sure a lot of you do as well. When you come in, it’s kind of the kickoff to a new season, a fresh start and a lot of opportunities.”