Michael McDowell paces third practice for the Daytona 500

Reigning Daytona 500 champion Michael McDowell was the fastest man in Daytona Beach, earning the top spot in third practice for Sunday's Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ford Performance drivers took up the first six spots in the 50-minute session. McDowell's No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford was followed up by teammate and NASCAR Cup Series rookie Todd Gilliland in the No. 38 Ford. RELATED: Daytona 500 schedule | Lineup for Sunday | Third practice results David Ragan finished third in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford. Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five after both drivers swept the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing on Thursday night. Cody Ware, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola and Noah Gragson finished out the top 10. Wallace and other Toyota counterparts, including Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., paced a handful of laps before taking it to the garage for the evening. During FS1's broadcast, Wallace indicated that the No. 23 23XI Racing team are done with their practice efforts despite the final practice session scheduled for Saturday morning (10:30 a.m. ET, FS2, coverage moves to FS1 at 11 a.m. ET). Kurt Busch, Wallace's teammate, also noted that he and the No. 45 team would elect to forgo the last session. Hendrick Motorsports drivers, including Busch Light pole sitter Kyle Larson, front row starter Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and William Byron took advantage of the time on track, drafting with each other until the conclusion of the session.