Denny Hamlin paced the NASCAR Cup Series field during Wednesday’s opening practice session at Daytona International Speedway, turning a lap of 187.480 mph in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. It’s the first of three scheduled practice sessions for Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500.
Bubba Wallace (186.915), Ty Gibbs (186.370), Chandler Smith (186.177) and John Hunter Nemechek (186.100) completed the top five.
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A few drivers had minor mechanical issues during the opening 50-minute session. Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece both had smoke coming from the right front, while Erik Jones had transmission problems trying to leave the garage for a run.
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Drivers will next participate in Daytona 500 Media Day at 12:30 p.m. ET before returning to the track Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) for qualifying.
