Kyle Busch was fastest in the first of two NASCAR Cup practice sessions Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch had a top lap of 197.438 mph around the 2.5-mile high banked superspeedway in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as teams begin preparations for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 (televised on NBC).
Brad Keselowski, who won last year’s Coke Zero 400, was second-fastest (197.230 mph). In fact, Keselowski led a phalanx of six straight Ford drivers that included Kevin Harvick (197.200), Joey Logano (197.165), Ryan Blaney (also 197.165), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (197.161) and Matt DiBenedetto (197.148).
Austin Dillon and his Chevrolet broke up the Ford onslaught with the eighth-fastest speed (197.131 mph), followed by two additional Fords: Trevor Bayne (197.109) and Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch was 10th-fastest (197.100), meaning Fords took eight of the 10 fastest spots.
Today’s second and final practice of the weekend is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN.