Daytona 500: Kyle Busch tops opening practice session

Busch established the top speed of 199.743mph while drafting with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates in the closing laps of the 52-minute session. 

Denny Hamlin (199.623), Daniel Suarez (199.610), Erik Jones (199.517) and Austin Dillon (197.278) rounded out the top-five speeds. Jamie McMurray, Ty Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson completed the top 10. 

A familiar car found its way to the top of the chart in the first 10 minutes of the first Daytona 500 practice. Alex Bowman wheeled the No. 88 Chevy to a lap of 193.999mph. Denny Hamlin (193.034), Joey Logano (192.571), Daniel Suarez (192.534), Clint Bowyer (192.410), Kurt Busch (192.263), Kyle Busch (192.119), Aric Almirola (192.094), McMurray (191.812) and William Byron (191.714)rounded out the top 10 speeds. 

Jimmie Johnson vaulted to second (193.403) on the speed chart after four laps while Byron climbed to seventh (192.324) after his second run. Just prior to the 25-minute mark, NASCAR called a caution for fluid on the track.   

The track returned to green at the 36-minute mark. Austin Dillon didn’t waste time shooting to the top of the board with a lap of 197.278mph in the draft. McMurray moved up to second (197.200mph). Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson followed as Bowman dropped to fifth. 

In the final five minutes, the four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas took to the track. In the draft, Jones took over P1 followed by Suarez, Kyle Busch and Hamlin. 

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	11	45.058			199.743
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	10	45.085	0.027	0.027	199.623
3	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	12	45.088	0.030	0.003	199.610
4	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	12	45.109	0.051	0.021	199.517
5	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	12	45.621	0.563	0.512	197.278
6	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	13	45.639	0.581	0.018	197.200
7	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	14	45.944	0.886	0.305	195.891
8	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	12	46.062	1.004	0.118	195.389
9	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	5	46.092	1.034	0.030	195.262
10	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	11	46.241	1.183	0.149	194.632
11	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	6	46.327	1.269	0.086	194.271
12	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	8	46.424	1.366	0.097	193.865
13	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	5	46.442	1.384	0.018	193.790
14	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	14	46.480	1.422	0.038	193.632
15	21	Paul Menard	Ford	9	46.515	1.457	0.035	193.486
16	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	12	46.540	1.482	0.025	193.382
17	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	9	46.625	1.567	0.085	193.029
18	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	9	46.627	1.569	0.002	193.021
19	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	7	46.627	1.569	0.000	193.021
20	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	5	46.645	1.587	0.018	192.947
21	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	6	46.653	1.595	0.008	192.914
22	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	9	46.691	1.633	0.038	192.757
23	22	Joey Logano	Ford	12	46.735	1.677	0.044	192.575
24	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	8	46.811	1.753	0.076	192.263
25	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	6	46.859	1.801	0.048	192.066
26	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	6	46.941	1.883	0.082	191.730
27	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	8	46.977	1.919	0.036	191.583
28	62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	2	46.988	1.930	0.011	191.538
29	38	David Ragan	Ford	6	47.039	1.981	0.051	191.331
30	92	David Gilliland	Ford	9	47.124	2.066	0.085	190.985
31	7	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	8	47.361	2.303	0.237	190.030
32	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	16	47.403	2.345	0.042	189.861
33	96	D.J. Kennington	Toyota	3	47.505	2.447	0.102	189.454
34	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	5	47.541	2.483	0.036	189.310
35	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	4	47.562	2.504	0.021	189.227
36	51	Justin Marks	Chevrolet	9	47.783	2.725	0.221	188.352
37	00	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	7	48.360	3.302	0.577	186.104
38	66	Mark Thompson	Ford	2	48.923	3.865	0.563	183.963
39	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	1	49.096	4.038	0.173	183.314