The dominating Hendrick Motorsports run-up to Sunday’s Daytona 500 continued in Friday’s second Sprint Cup practice of the day at Daytona International Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. paced the field with a best lap of 194.405 mph, followed by HMS teammates Kasey Kahne (193.528) and Jimmie Johnson (193.096).
Only 25 drivers took part in the session, up from just 14 in the morning practice.
Danica Patrick was fourth fastest (192.810) in the session, followed by rookie Ryan Blaney (192.781), Kyle Busch (192.431), Greg Biffle (192.369), Jamie McMurray (192.029), Carl Edwards (191.885) and Austin Dillon (191.853).
To put the HMS domination in perspective, consider what has occurred thus far in Speedweeks:
* Jeff Gordon and Johnson captured the front row in last Sunday’s pole qualifying.
* Thursday night, Earnhardt and Johnson won their respective races in the Budweiser Duel 150s.
* And Friday, Gordon was the fastest in the first practice, while Earnhardt was tops in the second practice.
MORE: Jeff Gordon paces first of two Friday Sprint Cup practices
One more practice session remains for Sprint Cup drivers on Saturday at 10:30 to 11:55 am ET. The 57th Daytona 500 takes the green flag on Sunday, shortly after 1 pm ET.
PRACTICE RESULTS
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. … 194.405 mph … 24 laps
2. Kasey Kahne … 193.528 … 30 laps
3. Jimmie Johnson … 193.096 … 16 laps
4. Danica Patrick … 192.810 … 19 laps
5. Ryan Blaney … 192.781 … 13 laps
6. Kyle Busch … 192.431 … 4 laps
7. Greg Biffle … 192.369 … 17 laps
8. Jamie McMurray … 192.029 … 16 laps
9. Carl Edwards … 191.885 … 7 laps
10. Austin Dillon … 191.853 … 23 laps
11. Sam Hornish Jr. … 191.791 … 18 laps
12. Casey Mears … 191.779 …21 laps
13. Ryan Newman … 191.771 … 29 laps
14. Ty Dillon … 191.730 … 15 laps
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. … 191.722 … 20 laps
16. Kyle Larson … 191.404 … 26 laps
17. Trevor Bayne … 191.201 … 13 laps
18. Justin Allgaier … 191.201 … 13 laps
19. Aric Almirola … 190.573 … 10 laps
20. AJ Allmendinger … 190.182 … 10 laps
21. David Gilliland … 189.930 … 10 laps
22. Landon Cassill … 189.801 … 5 laps
23. Bobby Labonte … 189.366 … 11 laps
24. Cole Whitt … 189.278 … 14 laps
25. David Ragan … 188.553 … 7 laps
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