DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It was an uneventful first practice session for the 68th running of the Daytona 500 Wednesday morning at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
Austin Cindric, the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, turned the fastest lap of the 50-minute session on the 2.5-mile superspeedway at 48.025 seconds. Cindric’s Team Penske Ford averaged 197.402 mph for his best lap.
Ross Chastain was second in for Trackhouse Racing, while Corey LaJoie, who is wheeling a fourth RFK Racing entry was third in the No. 99 Ford.
LaJoie was the quickest of the eight non-chartered entries in the race.
Fourth was 23XI Racing Toyota driver Bubba Wallace, with Daniel Suarez fifth in a Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
Defending series champion Kyle Larson was ninth aboard his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Two-time reigning Daytona 500 winner William Byron was 34th in practice, while last year’s Daytona 500 pole winner, Chase Briscoe, was 13th.
Qualifying for the Daytona 500 will be under the lights Wednesday night at Daytona Int’l Speedway, with the top two qualifiers locked into the front row for The Great American Race
Forty-three of the 45 entries made laps, with Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland sitting out the session.
