DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Next Gen Era officially began for the NASCAR Cup Series with Tuesday night’s two practice sessions for the 64th Daytona 500 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
From the looks of it, at least in practice, the Ford teams appear to have found the secret to speed at Daytona.
The top 10 drivers in Tuesday’s second practice session were all Ford drivers. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney led the session with a lap of 192.567 mph around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
That was faster than Blaney’s Team Penske teammate, former Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano, who turned a lap at 192.135 mph.
Eleven of the fastest 12 cars during the second session were Fords.
But it was 2021 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell who was the fastest driver overall. McDowell’s No. 34 Ford was the fasted in the 50-minute initial practice with a best lap of 192.736 mph. That was better than fellow Ford driver David Ragan’s 192.666 mph in the No. 15 Ford Mustang.
Although the NextGen cars have already competed in the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum, that is considered an exhibition event that does not pay points. Tuesday night’s practice is the first time the Cup Series team have hit the track to begin an actual competition.
That is magnified by the fact that the Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s biggest event.
When the 41 entries took to the 2.5-mile superspeedway for Tuesday two practice sessions, it was the first step toward getting the Next Gen race ready.
The purpose of Tuesday’s sessions was to simulate Wednesday night’s single-lap qualifications for the Daytona 500. The front row will be locked into Sunday’s race. Also, Wednesday’s speeds will determine the starting lineups for Thursday night’s two qualifying races.
Some of the drivers decided to drive in packs, to learn how the new car will react in the high-speed, high-banked racing on Thursday and Sunday. That is why Tuesday night’s session offered a little bit of both ends of the racing spectrum that fans will see this week at Daytona.
“It was cool to get to the race track today with all the buildup for the Daytona 500, that was fun,” McDowell said. “We had a game plan in place to work with our Ford teammates, get out in a group and play around the draft. It worked out well with four or five of the Fords catching the Toyota pack.
“I feel good about our Ford Mustang. It had good speed and drove really well. I feel good.”
McDowell, who won last year’s 63rd Daytona 500 by driving a very smart race, knows preparation is important to winning The Great American Race.
“The speedway cars are so particular the way they are built, but the Next Gen cars, we have no spares, so you don’t want to put yourself in a bind in practice,” McDowell said. “But at the same time, this is the Daytona 500, and you want to be prepared as much as you can to win the race.
“At this track, this is the closest the new car feels to the old car. At Charlotte, it felt a lot different.”
Ford drivers swept the top five in Practice No. 1 with Todd Gilliland third at 192.649 mph in the No. 38 Ford followed by RFK newcomer Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 at 192.600 mph. RFK teammate Chris Buescher rounded out the top five at 192.571 mph in the No. 17 Ford.
In practice No. 2, Blaney and Logano were followed by Cole Custer’s No. 41 Ford at 191.103 mph and Cody Ware’s No. 51 Ford at 191.099 mph.
Chris Buescher rounded out the top five in the final practice at 191.087 mph in the No. 17 Ford.
Six of the last seven Daytona 500 pole winners drove for Hendrick Motorsports. The last seven Daytona 500 pole winners all used Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet engines.
For at least one day, however, Ford has found the pace.
“If you are near the shiny end of your Duel, you will try to stay there and not risk your position,” McDowell said. “But it will be a balance and you will have to think about it.
“But we’re racers. We’ll see how qualifying goes and then go from it there and put ourselves in position for the race on Sunday.
“But everybody wants to win the pole for the Daytona 500 and that is what we are here to do.”