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Daytona 500: Daniel Suarez leads Toyota trio in first Friday practice

Daniel Suarez led the third practice session for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday.

Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing, ARRIS Toyota Camry
Daniel Suarez, Joe Gibbs Racing, ARRIS Toyota Camry

Suarez’s top time was 45.036-seconds (199.840mph) followed by the Toyotas of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. David Ragan, Danica Patrick, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, Brendan Gaughan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Marks completed the top 10 speeds.

Team Penske topped the chart early in the 50-minute session with Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski leading the session.

Keselowski completed 19 laps in his back up car with a top speed of 193.482mph. He wrecked the primary following contact with Jamie McMurray in the Duel on Thursday. Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, William Byron, Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson and David Gilliland also shook down their backup cars.

Logano’s best of four laps in his initial run was 195.844mph. Johnson debuted his new car but was only 16th-quick after three laps. Eight minutes in, defending Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch moved up to second with a top speed of 192.282mph after four laps, but then the shuffling began.

After the first 10 minutes, Denny Hamlin moved to the top (198.706mph) followed by Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez as the Joe Gibbs Toyotas started drafting. Martin Truex Jr., joined the run and moved up to third (199.694mph) just after Suarez (199.840mph) vaulted to P1. David Ragan, Danica Patrick, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, Brendan Gaughan, Justin Marks and Trevor Bayne completed the top 10 speeds.

Thirty-one drivers had posted times by the 20-minute mark. Suarez maintained the fastest speed and Hamlin’s 17 laps were the most completed.

Thirty minutes into the session, Austin Dillon broke into the top 10 with a lap of 197.455mph followed by Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Alex Bowman, Bayne, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson Kurt Busch and Logano.

Patrick, Gaulding, McDowell, Ragan, Allmendinger, Gaughan and Mark Thompson’s session ended 15-minutes early after being late to inspection.

With 10 minutes remaining, Stenhouse popped up to ninth (198.325mph). Kyle Busch’s 28 laps were the most completed to that point and 36 drivers participated in the 50-minute exercise.

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph
1 19 mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota 23 45.036     199.840
2 11 united_states Denny Hamlin  Toyota 27 45.058 0.022 0.022 199.743
3 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 14 45.069 0.033 0.011 199.694
4 38 united_states David Ragan  Ford 17 45.079 0.043 0.010 199.650
5 7 united_states Danica Patrick  Chevrolet 14 45.134 0.098 0.055 199.406
6 43 united_states Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 11 45.136 0.100 0.002 199.397
7 18 united_states Kyle Busch  Toyota 28 45.180 0.144 0.044 199.203
8 62 united_states Brendan Gaughan  Chevrolet 8 45.190 0.154 0.010 199.159
9 17 united_states Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 15 45.380 0.344 0.190 198.325
10 51 united_states Justin Marks  Chevrolet 22 45.385 0.349 0.005 198.303
11 00 united_states Jeffrey Earnhardt  Chevrolet 16 45.561 0.525 0.176 197.537
12 3 united_states Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 15 45.580 0.544 0.019 197.455
13 24 united_states William Byron  Chevrolet 8 45.581 0.545 0.001 197.451
14 95 united_states Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 5 45.604 0.568 0.023 197.351
15 13 united_states Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 22 45.606 0.570 0.002 197.342
16 72 united_states Corey Lajoie  Chevrolet 7 45.636 0.600 0.030 197.213
17 31 united_states Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 10 45.654 0.618 0.018 197.135
18 88 united_states Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 18 45.750 0.714 0.096 196.721
19 6 united_states Trevor Bayne  Ford 6 45.813 0.777 0.063 196.451
20 42 united_states Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 25 45.821 0.785 0.008 196.416
21 34 united_states Michael McDowell  Ford 12 45.887 0.851 0.066 196.134
22 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 10 45.920 0.884 0.033 195.993
23 41 united_states Kurt Busch  Ford 17 46.378 1.342 0.458 194.058
24 22 united_states Joey Logano  Ford 15 46.425 1.389 0.047 193.861
25 21 united_states Paul Menard  Ford 11 46.510 1.474 0.085 193.507
26 2 united_states Brad Keselowski  Ford 19 46.516 1.480 0.006 193.482
27 10 united_states Aric Almirola  Ford 16 46.621 1.585 0.105 193.046
28 96 canada D.J. Kennington  Toyota 13 46.693 1.657 0.072 192.748
29 4 united_states Kevin Harvick  Ford 8 46.819 1.783 0.126 192.230
30 9 united_states Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 12 46.819 1.783 0.000 192.230
31 14 united_states Clint Bowyer  Ford 11 46.881 1.845 0.062 191.975
32 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 15 46.886 1.850 0.005 191.955
33 12 united_states Ryan Blaney  Ford 11 46.906 1.870 0.020 191.873
34 37 united_states Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 13 47.381 2.345 0.475 189.950
35 66 united_states Mark Thompson  Ford 6 48.314 3.278 0.933 186.281
36 23 united_states Gray Gaulding  Toyota 9 48.598 3.562 0.284 185.193

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