DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Toyota drivers had the top eight speeds in Friday’s practice session for the 66th Daytona 500 and one of the race favorites was the fastest driver.
It was Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, who drove the No. 11 FedEx Toyota to the top of the timing monitor with a lap at 197.477 mph. He ran 22 total laps.
“It’s more the way it worked out, for sure,” Hamlin said. “We had a big tow from another manufacturer’s set of cars. When we were out there without them, we ran about the same speed as everyone else.”
Hamlin downplayed his role as one of the race favorites.
“There really isn’t a favorite in this race,” Hamlin said. “Now it’s Friday and I’m getting closer to the limits of how far I can push and how hard I can push.
“I’m starting to understand now.”
Another Toyota driver, Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club, was second fastest at 197.468 mph in the No. 43. Christopher Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing was third at 197.429 mph.
Ty Gibbs was another Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the top four at 197.34 mph in the No. 54 at 197.377 mph. John Hunter-Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club rounded out the top five at 197.377 mph in the No. 42.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who had to race his way into the starting lineup in Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel No. 1, was seventh at 197.282 mph. That was right behind Tyler Reddick’s 197.364 mph in the No. 45 23XI Toyota.
“I can sleep good tonight,” Johnson said. “The guys had to do a lot more work to the car than we realized. My trip across the apron damaged the underside of the car and that is where all the downforce is created these days.
“They took from the front fenders off and everything below it and spent last night and all day today getting it right through the scanning devices quite a few times to make sure the car was right to its original settings.
“I couldn’t tell they changed a thing. The car drove great.”
Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner, was the fastest driver not in a Toyota. He was ninth fastest in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford at 194.569 mph.
Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing was the fastest Chevrolet driver, 15th overall at 193.920 mph in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.
The weekend’s schedule is in jeopardy because of rainstorms that are expected to hit the Daytona Beach area after midnight. The weather reports indicate a slow-moving system that could mean rain through Monday.
That creates even more tension heading into the biggest NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.
“I’ve got to be here either way, so I don’t look at the weather,” Austin Dillon said. “I know my job is to race until the race is over and then I get to go home. I try not to let it go into my mind.
“If I’m in a rain delay, I try to find something fun I can do in the meantime.
“I hate it for NASCAR, though. It’s a momentum killer for us. We want to show all of the fans and on TV how great of a sport we are right now and sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t work to our advantage.
“Maybe Sunday, it will change from here to then, but it doesn’t look great.”