2022 DAYTONA 500 winner Austin Cindric paced the opening NASCAR Cup Series practice from Daytona International Speedway, ahead of Wednesday’s single-vehicle qualifying session to set the front row for the season-opening event.
With a lap time of 48.025 seconds (187.402mph), Cindric paced the practice session by more than a tenth of a second over Ross Chastain, who was second quickest. However, both of the top-two drivers, as well as third and fourth-place Corey LaJoie and Bubba Wallace, had the effect of some drafting on their best practice lap.
Daniel Suarez rounded out the top five. Alex Bowman was sixth, with Erik Jones, Corey Heim, Kyle Larson, and Jimmie Johnson rounding out the top-10.
LaJoie and Heim were the two fastest Open Entries in the opening practice session, with Johnson, 10th, being the third quickest. Johnson, co-owner of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, is already locked into the event, though, courtesy of the Open Exemption Provisional.
The remainder of the Open Entries were Justin Allgaier (19th), Anthony Alfredo (26th), Chandler Smith (35th), BJ McLeod (41st), Casey Mears (42nd), and JJ Yeley (43rd).
Only Todd Gilliland and Michael McDowell chose not to take a lap during the 50-minute practice session on Wednesday at Daytona.
DAYTONA 500 – PRACTICE 1 RESULTS:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Diff | Speed | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske Discount Tire Ford | 48.025 | 187.402 | 13 | |
| 2 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Busch Light Chevrolet | 48.146 | 0.121 | 186.931 | 6 |
| 3 | 99 | Corey LaJoie | RFK Racing Trimble Ford | 48.253 | 0.228 | 186.517 | 11 |
| 4 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing XFINITY Toyota | 48.262 | 0.237 | 186.482 | 8 |
| 5 | 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 48.494 | 0.469 | 185.590 | 8 |
| 6 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports Ally Financial Chevrolet | 48.522 | 0.497 | 185.483 | 4 |
| 7 | 43 | Erik Jones | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB AdventHealth Toyota | 48.585 | 0.560 | 185.242 | 14 |
| 8 | 67 | Corey Heim | 23XI Racing Robinhood Toyota | 48.599 | 0.574 | 185.189 | 8 |
| 9 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 48.679 | 0.654 | 184.885 | 7 |
| 10 | 84 | Jimmie Johnson | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Carvana Toyota | 48.688 | 0.663 | 184.850 | 20 |
| 11 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Dollar Tree Toyota | 48.737 | 0.712 | 184.665 | 16 |
| 12 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing Zone Jalapeno Lime Chevrolet | 48.775 | 0.750 | 184.521 | 5 |
| 13 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 48.815 | 0.790 | 184.370 | 17 |
| 14 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 48.870 | 0.845 | 184.162 | 6 |
| 15 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing Blind Lemon Toyota | 48.877 | 0.852 | 184.136 | 9 |
| 16 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet | 48.890 | 0.865 | 184.087 | 9 |
| 17 | 88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing Red Bull Chevrolet | 48.937 | 0.912 | 183.910 | 10 |
| 18 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing Fastenal / BodyGuard Ford | 48.954 | 0.929 | 183.846 | 7 |
| 19 | 40 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet | 48.990 | 0.965 | 183.711 | 7 |
| 20 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 48.994 | 0.969 | 183.696 | 5 |
| 21 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford | 48.996 | 0.971 | 183.688 | 5 |
| 22 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | HYAK Motorsports Chef Boyardee Chevrolet | 48.998 | 0.973 | 183.681 | 5 |
| 23 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing National Debt Relief Toyota | 49.005 | 0.980 | 183.655 | 8 |
| 24 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing Kroger / Viva Ford | 49.007 | 0.982 | 183.647 | 7 |
| 25 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team HaasTooling.com Chevrolet | 49.035 | 1.010 | 183.542 | 6 |
| 26 | 62 | Anthony Alfredo | Beard Motorsports DUDE Wipes Chevrolet | 49.041 | 1.016 | 183.520 | 5 |
| 27 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing Chumba Casino Toyota | 49.043 | 1.018 | 183.512 | 20 |
| 28 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing Castrol Ford | 49.066 | 1.041 | 183.426 | 10 |
| 29 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports Spectrum Chevrolet | 49.080 | 1.055 | 183.374 | 2 |
| 30 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing DeWalt / Interstate Batteries Toyota | 49.084 | 1.059 | 183.359 | 7 |
| 31 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske Menards / PEAK Ford | 49.095 | 1.070 | 183.318 | 9 |
| 32 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske Shell-Pennzoil Ford | 49.102 | 1.077 | 183.292 | 12 |
| 33 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing JACOB Construction Chevrolet | 49.113 | 1.088 | 183.251 | 6 |
| 34 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports Raptor Chevrolet | 49.189 | 1.164 | 182.968 | 2 |
| 35 | 36 | Chandler Smith | Front Row Motorsports QuickTie / Matheus Lumber Ford | 49.202 | 1.177 | 182.919 | 4 |
| 36 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy Toyota | 49.237 | 1.212 | 182.789 | 3 |
| 37 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing CELSIUS Chevrolet | 49.244 | 1.219 | 182.763 | 8 |
| 38 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing SuperFile Chevrolet | 49.321 | 1.296 | 182.478 | 10 |
| 39 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports Rush Truck Centers Ford | 49.395 | 1.370 | 182.205 | 1 |
| 40 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports SpeedyCash Ford | 49.499 | 1.474 | 181.822 | 1 |
| 41 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports Superior Logistics Chevrolet | 49.656 | 1.631 | 181.247 | 9 |
| 42 | 66 | Casey Mears | Garage 66 SI Yachts / The Gracie Foundation Ford | 49.810 | 1.785 | 180.687 | 8 |
| 43 | 44 | JJ Yeley | NY Racing Built to Work Chevrolet | 50.126 | 2.101 | 179.548 | 4 |
