Erik Jones paced the field in the opening practice session of the weekend. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.236 and a speed of 183.358 mph.
With Speedweeks in the rearview, let's turn our attention to "Hotlanta." This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into the greater Atlanta area for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 325-lap event on the 1.54-mile quad-oval intermediate speedway will be the second race of the 2016 Sprint Cup season.
The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota edged out the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. by 11 one-thousanths of a second to win the 58th running of the Great American Race.
Not satisfied with the pole for the Daytona 500, Chase Elliott held off Joey Logano coming to the line to score the victory at Daytona International Speedway in the XFINITY Series. Elliott, at 20 years, two months and 23 days, also became the youngest XFINITY Series winner at Daytona.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. topped the chart for the final practice session before the big race tomorrow. The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the final Daytona 500 practice session with a time of 45.655 and a speed of 197.131 mph.
As the field of trucks were hurdling down the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway with seven laps to go in the NextEra Energy Resources 250, Timothy Peters nudged Cameron Hayley out of place. This sent the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota up the track into the side of John Hunter Nemechek. Just as he got his car straight, he was turned again down through the grass.
With the No. 4 Toyota of Christopher Bell barrel-rolling through Turn 1 behind him, Johnny Sauter nosed ahead in his No. 21 Chevrolet and had more than a car-length lead when NASCAR called the final caution of the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
Kyle Busch won the second Can-Am Duel race at Daytona International Speedway Thursday night and the field is now set for the Great American Race. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 35 of the 60 laps on his way to taking the checkered flag.
Hendrick Motorsports has the all-time lead in NASCAR Cup Series poles (27), wins (31), top fives (105), top 10s (175) and laps led (2,473) on road courses.
The second stop of the summer “West Coast swing” brings the NASCAR Cup Series to its annual visit at Sonoma Raceway, located in California’s wine country region.
