DAYTONA 500 – Practice 1
Daytona Beach, Florida – February 16, 2024
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY – NASCAR 101
Following Thursday night’s action-packed Duels at Daytona, the NASCAR Cup Series was back on-track Friday evening for the first of two 50-minute practices this week as manufacturers worked together in the draft. Ryan Blaney and the No. 12 team were able to get their first laps in the backup car after being collected in a multi-car incident in the second Duel race and posted the best 10 consecutive lap average in the field. Austin Cindric posted the second-fastest 10 consecutive lap average, followed by DAYTONA 500 pole sitter Joey Logano in fifth as the Team Penske Ford Mustangs traded places in the draft throughout the run.
Austin Cindric, driver, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang
10th
Ryan Blaney, driver, No. 12 Menards/Peak Ford Mustang
13th
Joey Logano, driver, No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang
14th
HEAR FROM BLANEY: “The backup car felt just like my car last night [in the Duels] so that’s always great. It’s a huge testament to the prep work these guys do and the effort they put in to make sure, in a worst-case scenario, that you can kind of plug something in and make it very similar. Everything felt very similar to last night so no issues there. We’ll just have to find a way to work our way forward come Sunday.”
SATURDAY SLATE IN DAYTONA: The NASCAR Cup Series returns on-track Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET for the final practice session leading into Sunday’s DAYTONA 500. The 50-minute session will be broadcast live on FS1 on MRN.
TEAM PENSKE AT DAYTONA: Team Penske has started 154 races at Daytona International Speedway, 77 of which were in the league’s marquee event, the DAYTONA 500. Of the organization’s three wins in The Great American Race, the most recent came in 2022 when Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang, etched his name in history as the first rookie to win the crown jewel event. Ryan Newman recorded Team Penske’s first win in the event in 2008, followed by Logano in 2015.
