William Byron proved he had a fast race car in Thursday’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel No. 2, when he took the victory in a hotly contested final few laps.
Byron kept the momentum going on Friday, as his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet was fastest in the third Daytona 500 practice session.
RELATED: Full results from Friday’s Daytona 500 Practice 3
204.587 mph was the staggering quick lap for Byron.
Ryan Preece, Chase Elliott, Ty Dillon and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-five fastest in the session.
Jimmie Johnson, who is entering what could be his final Daytona 500, was sixth-quickest.
Ryan Blaney, who is running a backup car after a crash in his Duel with Daniel Suarez, was 19th-fastest in the session.
Corey LaJoie is the other driver who was forced to a backup car after the Duels. He was 32nd of the 32 cars that took practice laps on Friday.
Kevin Harvick was among the eight cars that skipped the session. Instead of rushing repairs to his No. 4 car after a beating and banging finish to the second Duel on Thursday, Rodney Childers opted to fix the car properly.
They spent the entire day Friday on the repairs and the car should return to the track on Saturday for a few laps just to make sure there are no vibrations.
