In a Daytona 500 practice session that largely featured single-car runs, second-year Sprint Cup driver Alex Bowman earned top honors with a lap of 200.495 miles per hour in the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet.
Two drivers that were near the top in today’s earlier practice stayed there for this session. Kasey Kahne, P4 in the earlier practice, was second-fastest with a lap of 200.459 mph, while Trevor Bayne was third again but slightly quicker in this session at 200.387 mph.
Paul Menard was fourth on the time sheets at 200.374 mph, and was followed by Richard Childress Racing teammate Brian Scott (fifth, 200.285).
After sustaining some damage in a five-car incident earlier today, Denny Hamlin was sixth in this session at 199.309 mph. Danica Patrick was forced to go to a backup car as a result of that crash, but got out again and logged 13 laps. Her best lap at 192.835 mph was good enough for 19th.
Jeb Burton and Michael Annett, the other two drivers that must go to a backup following the crash, were among those that did not appear in this session.
Tomorrow sees Speedweeks kick into high gear with another 500 practice session (12 Noon - 1:25 p.m. ET), two Camping World Truck Series practices (1:30-2:25 and 3:30-4:55 p.m. ET), and the day’s main event - the two, 60-lap Budweiser Duels (Duel 1 at 7 p.m. ET; Duel 2 at approx. 8:30 p.m. ET) that will help set the 500 field.
Daytona 500 Practice 4
Daytona International Speedway
1. Alex Bowman, 200.495 mph ... 12 laps run
2. Kasey Kahne, 200.459 mph ... 18 laps run
3. Trevor Bayne, 200.387 ... 5 laps run
4. Paul Menard, 200.374 ... 12 laps run
5. Brian Scott, 200.285 ... 10 laps run
6. Denny Hamlin, 199.309 ... 11 laps run
7. Kyle Busch, 198.487 ... 10 laps run
8. Ty Dillon, 198.382 ... 20 laps run
9. Justin Marks, 198.334 ... 17 laps run
10. Michael McDowell, 198.216 ... 10 laps run
11. Jeff Gordon, 198.181 ... 18 laps run
12. Kevin Harvick, 196.113 ... 5 laps run
13. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 195.695 ... 13 laps run
14. Jamie McMurray, 194.271 ... 11 laps run
15. Joey Logano, 194.028 ... 10 laps run
16. Ryan Blaney, 194.020 ... 4 laps run
17. Jimmie Jonson, 193.849 ... 13 laps run
18. Brad Keselowski, 193.295 ... 18 laps run
19. Danica Patrick, 192.835 ... 13 laps run
20. Ryan Newman, 192.406 ... 1 lap run
21. Greg Biffle, 192.230 ... 3 laps run
22. Casey Mears, 192.094 ... 5 laps run
23. Aric Almirola, 191.832 ... 6 laps run
24. Martin Truex Jr., 191.657 ... 3 laps run
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 191.644 ... 8 laps run
26. Cole Whitt, 191.624 ... 5 laps run
27. Bobby Labonte, 191.018 ... 6 laps run
28. Josh Wise, 189.785 ... 3 laps run
29. David Ragan, 189.661 ... 2 laps run
30. Matt Kenseth, 21.413 ... 1 lap run
31. Landon Cassill ... 0 laps run
32. Sam Hornish Jr. ... 0 laps run
Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average
1. Kasey Kahne, 198.008 ... Laps 1-10
2. Brian Scott, 197.802 ... Laps 1-10
3. Jeff Gordon, 197.464 ... Laps 2-11
4. Ty Dillon, 197.368 ... Laps 1-10
5. Kyle Busch, 197.334 ... Laps 1-10
6. Denny Hamlin, 196.940 ... Laps 2-11
7. Alex Bowman, 196.876 ... Laps 3-12
8. Justin Marks, 195.257 ... Laps 1-10