Austin Cindric paced the NASCAR Cup Series field during Wednesday’s opening practice session at Daytona International Speedway.
The 2022 “Great American Race” winner turned a lap of 187.402 mph in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford. It’s the first of three scheduled practice sessions for Sunday’s 68th running of the Daytona 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, HBO Max, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Ross Chastain (186.931), Corey LaJoie (186.517), Bubba Wallace (186.482) and Daniel Suárez (185.590) completed the top five. Alex Bowman (185.483), Erik Jones (185.242), Corey Heim (185.189), reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson (184.885) and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson (184.85) rounded out the top 10.
Two-time defending Daytona 500 winner William Byron was 34th on the board at 182.968 mph. The No. 24 driver is looking to become the first driver in history to win three straight.
For the most part, drivers participated in single-car runs to diagnose any mechanical issues ahead of qualifying Wednesday night (8:15 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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Before qualifying, drivers will participate in Daytona 500 Media Day beginning at 11 a.m. ET. (The NASCAR Channel)