For Michael McDowell, Daytona International Speedway will always be a special place as it is the site of his lone NASCAR Cup Series win as he scored a dramatic triumph in last year’s Daytona 500.
Fast forward to 2022, and it is McDowell who was the fastest in the opening practice session of the Daytona 500 weekend.
McDowell’s fastest lap was 46.696 sec., which equates to 192.736 mph.
Sure, pacing practice 1 means little as far as who will win the Daytona 500, but its a nice confidence booster for the Arizona-native as it means his Front Row Motorsports team still brings potent Superspeedway pieces even in the new Next Gen car era.
McDowell shared his thoughts in a video shared to Twitter after Practice 1:
We have a fast @LovesTravelStop Ford Mustang! pic.twitter.com/OwAzrbxINF
— Michael McDowell (@Mc_Driver) February 15, 2022
David Ragan, who will run a part-time schedule for Rick Ware Racing in the No. 15 Ford Mustang this season, was second-quick in the session with a 46.713 sec. laptime.
Todd Gilliland, McDowell’s FRM teammate, was third-fastest, while Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher made it a clean sweep of the top-five for the Ford teams in the opening practice session of the week.
Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch ranked sixth through 10th in the session.
Wallace, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell ran the most laps in the session at 27 laps.
Greg Biffle was the fastest of the six non-chartered teams, who are hoping to work their way into the 40-car field. Biffle was 14th-fastest in the No. 44 NY Racing Chevrolet Camaro.
Noah Gragson was the second-fastest non-chartered driver, in the No. 62 Beard Motorsports entry, in 15th.
Timmy Hill (27th), JJ Yeley (34th), Jacques Villeneuve (40th) and Kaz Grala (41st) were the remaining non-chartered drivers in the session.
There was one caution flag in the opening practice session of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, which came due to BJ McLeod, who was stalled in the pit area.
McLeod turned the slowest fast lap of the session, as his one single lap on track was a 50.671 sec. lap.
Here are the full results from 2022 Daytona 500 Practice 1:
(Right click here to download practice 1 results pdf)
| # | Driver | Best Time | Diff. | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | 46.696 | 25 | |
| 2 | 15 | David Ragan | 46.713 | -0.017 | 18 |
| 3 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | 46.717 | -0.021 | 20 |
| 4 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | 46.729 | -0.033 | 21 |
| 5 | 17 | Chris Buescher | 46.736 | -0.039 | 22 |
| 6 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | 47.075 | -0.379 | 19 |
| 7 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 47.081 | -0.385 | 27 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | 47.083 | -0.387 | 22 |
| 9 | 45 | Kurt Busch | 47.085 | -0.389 | 20 |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | 47.089 | -0.393 | 27 |
| 11 | 9 | Chase Elliott | 47.114 | -0.418 | 16 |
| 12 | 48 | Alex Bowman | 47.121 | -0.425 | 13 |
| 13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | 47.133 | -0.437 | 19 |
| 14 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 47.386 | -0.690 | 15 |
| 15 | 20 | Christopher Bell | 47.497 | -0.801 | 27 |
| 16 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 47.552 | -0.856 | 16 |
| 17 | 44 | Greg Biffle | 47.827 | -1.131 | 10 |
| 18 | 62 | Noah Gragson | 47.85 | -1.154 | 14 |
| 19 | 51 | Cody Ware | 48.496 | -1.800 | 15 |
| 20 | 24 | William Byron | 48.556 | -1.860 | 9 |
| 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | 48.661 | -1.965 | 13 |
| 22 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | 48.68 | -1.984 | 10 |
| 23 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | 48.788 | -2.092 | 16 |
| 24 | 16 | Daniel Hemric | 48.843 | -2.147 | 7 |
| 25 | 21 | Harrison Burton | 49.043 | -2.347 | 7 |
| 26 | 2 | Austin Cindric | 49.051 | -2.355 | 10 |
| 27 | 66 | Timmy Hill | 49.202 | -2.506 | 8 |
| 28 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | 49.24 | -2.544 | 11 |
| 29 | 10 | Aric Almirola | 49.28 | -2.584 | 11 |
| 30 | 1 | Ross Chastain | 49.285 | -2.589 | 9 |
| 31 | 42 | Ty Dillon | 49.329 | -2.633 | 8 |
| 32 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | 49.403 | -2.707 | 13 |
| 33 | 22 | Joey Logano | 49.41 | -2.714 | 17 |
| 34 | 55 | JJ Yeley | 49.455 | -2.759 | 14 |
| 35 | 43 | Erik Jones | 49.505 | -2.809 | 6 |
| 36 | 31 | Justin Haley | 49.646 | -2.950 | 7 |
| 37 | 41 | Cole Custer | 49.704 | -3.008 | 6 |
| 38 | 77 | Landon Cassill | 49.843 | -3.147 | 11 |
| 39 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 49.848 | -3.152 | 3 |
| 40 | 27 | Jacques Villeneueve | 49.87 | -3.174 | 18 |
| 41 | 50 | Kaz Grala | 50.207 | -3.511 | 5 |
| 42 | 78 | BJ McLeod | 50.671 | -3.975 | 1 |
