That’s it, folks.
All that stands between one driver and hoisting the Harley J. Earl trophy in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway is the 68th Running of the DAYTONA 500. No drivers (other than those running the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event) will turn another lap at Daytona before the green flag drops in the DAYTONA 500.
Ryan Preece and RFK Racing were eager to get their Ford Mustang Dark Horse entries on the racetrack on Saturday, and turned upwards of 30 laps around the 2.5-mile superspeedway in unison, giving them the top-three spots on the leaderboard.
Team Penske held positions four and five. Only 18 drivers managed to turn a lap time around Daytona International Speedway in the 50-minute practice session, including Casey Mears and Garage 66, who got their backup car on the racetrack.
DAYTONA 500 Happy Hour Results:
| POS | # | Driver | Team | Time | Diff | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing Kroger / Viva Ford | 46.676 | 0.000 | 192.819 |
| 2 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing Fastenal / BodyGuard Ford | 46.684 | 0.008 | 192.786 |
| 3 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing Castrol Ford | 46.733 | 0.057 | 192.583 |
| 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske Menards / PEAK Ford | 46.758 | 0.082 | 192.480 |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske Shell-Pennzoil Ford | 46.760 | 0.084 | 192.472 |
| 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Busch Light Chevrolet | 46.791 | 0.115 | 192.345 |
| 7 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 46.830 | 0.154 | 192.184 |
| 8 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing CELSIUS Chevrolet | 47.141 | 0.465 | 190.917 |
| 9 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports Superior Logistics Chevrolet | 47.150 | 0.474 | 190.880 |
| 10 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing JACOB Construction Chevrolet | 47.185 | 0.509 | 190.739 |
| 11 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team HaasTooling.com Chevrolet | 47.287 | 0.611 | 190.327 |
| 12 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet | 47.297 | 0.621 | 190.287 |
| 13 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports Raptor Chevrolet | 47.976 | 1.300 | 187.594 |
| 14 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford | 49.120 | 2.444 | 183.225 |
| 15 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske Discount Tire Ford | 49.263 | 2.587 | 182.693 |
| 16 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports Ally Financial Chevrolet | 49.326 | 2.650 | 182.460 |
| 17 | 66 | Casey Mears | Garage 66 SI Yachts / The Gracie Foundation Ford | 49.403 | 2.727 | 182.175 |
| 18 | 84 | Jimmie Johnson | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Carvana Toyota | 49.524 | 2.848 | 181.730 |
