NASCAR practice times from Daytona International Speedway
Next up, it’s NASCAR final practice for the MENCS division. It’s the last session ahead of qualifying and the race tomorrow at Daytona International Speedway.
View full 2019 Daytona final practice results below.
2019 Daytona Menu: MENCS
TV | Prac 1 | Prac 2 | Qual | Race
Kyle Busch was quickest overall in the opening round of practice. However, he was fighting different handling issues. He was tight in the draft but when he pulled out of line, air jumped on the nose and he got loose in a hurry.
Rain and lightning rolled into the area earlier, cutting the opening round of practice short by 11 minutes. The area is now clear and we’re going green.
Daytona Final Practice
Report
Duration: 50 minutes
The first seven minutes have been eaten by a short weather delay. With 43 minutes remaining, Joey Logano is once again the first car on the track. He’s running out there by himself.
20 minutes in, a line of 24 cars run single file on the track. Martin Truex Jr jumps to the top of the board with an average speed of 205.936. That’s significantly quicker than first practice.
Halfway in final Daytona Practice: 1. Martin Truex Jr (43.703); 2. Denny Hamlin (43.745); 3. Erik Jones (43.748); 4. Matt DiBenedetto (43.821); 5. Matt Tifft (43.840); 6. Parker Kligerman (43.859); 7. Clint Bowyer (44.042); 8. Bubba Wallace (44.121); 9. Daniel Hemric (44.317); 10. Ty Dillon (44.362);
23 minutes remain, they’re three wide in practice. They’re flirting with backup car territory as drivers see what they got in the final minutes of practice for the weekend. Logano aggressively side drafts Johnson in the middle of the corner at the front of this pack.
Brad Keselowski and William Byron crash in practice
17 minutes remain, William Byron is sideways off turn four! Byron was trying to block a run from Brad Keselowski. Keselowski tags him in the left rear and Byron goes around in a hurry. Byron bounced off the apron. He saved the car with moderate right rear damage.
Last year in this very race, Byron threw a block on Keselowski for the race lead. Keselowski stated after that incident, “I need to wreck more people.”
Related: Brad Keselowski issues a warning to rookie drivers who throw bad blocks
William Byron: “Obviously, I was in the lead last year. I guess he kinda felt like I threw a block,” Byron told NBC Sports after the practice crash.
“I thought I was clear there. Obviously, I was he just decided to run into the left rear,” Byron says of the latest incident.
“It’s practice, I get it. But I don’t think that was really necessary to turn us there. It’s alright, we’ll get it fixed.”
“I didn’t really expect that. It wasn’t like I changed four lanes. I was just kinda holding my lane and he used his run to drive into my left rear. That’s alright. At least I saved it.”
Brad Keselowski: “I just had a big run. He put me in a position where I had to lift and I keep telling these guys, I’m not lifting,” Brad Keselowski confirms.
“I hate it for his team and they got to work on their car. But, just trying to send a message, ‘I’m not lifting.’ “
“I’m tired of getting wrecked at the plate tracks. I’ve been wrecked out of four of them. Quite honestly, it’s because I let people pull moves like that on me. So, they’re all watching. They know.”
Watch the Brad Keselowski and William Byron crash video from Daytona below.
Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr wins practice!
View full 2019 Daytona International Speedway final practice results below.
Daytona
Final Practice Results
July 4, 2019
1. Martin Truex Jr
43.703
2. Denny Hamlin
43.745
3. Erik Jones
43.748
4. Matt DiBenedetto
43.821
5. Matt Tifft
43.840
6. Parker Kligerman
43.859
7. Clint Bowyer
44.042
8. Bubba Wallace
44.121
9. Daniel Hemric
44.317
10. Ty Dillon
44.362
11. Ryan Preece
44.389
12. Chris Buescher
44.458
13. Jimmie Johnson
44.472
14. Austin Dillon
44.476
15. Kyle Larson
44.483
16. Chase Elliott
44.496
17. William Byron
44.496
18. Kurt Busch
44.500
19. Corey LaJoie
44.524
20. Joey Logano
44.531
21. David Ragan
44.537
22. Alex Bowman
44.143
23. Brendan Gaughan
45.143
24. JJ Yeley
45.199
25. Ryan Blaney
45.308
26. Daniel Suarez
45.313
27. Paul Menard
45.334
28. Aric Almirola
45.368
29. Kevin Harvick
45.618
30. Michael McDowell
45.702
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
45.837
32. Brad Keselowski
45.988
33. Landon Cassill
46.074
34. BJ McLeod
46.090
35. Kyle Busch
47.153
36. Ryan Newman
47.373
37. Quin Houff
47.475
38. Justin Haley
49.251
39. Joey Gase
49.665
