Hamlin, other Toyota drivers skip the last practice session
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and his six fellow Toyota drivers skipped the final practice for “The Great American Race.”
Even action sports star Travis Pastrana, who has little experience at Daytona International Speedway, sat out the 50-minute session Saturday. He is driving a third car for 23XI Racing, the team co-owned by Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan.
“I feel like I have the best Toyota here,” Pastrana said confidently. “I’m just so so proud, stoked, for this team and for them giving me this amazing hot rod.”
Sixteen of 40 cars did get in a final practice, but not pole-sitter Alex Bowman or his fellow Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and William Byron.
Brad Keselowski topped the speed chart in his No. 6 Ford, reaching 191.201 mph during his 14-lap stint. Joey Logano was second, followed by Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece and Harrison Burton. Ford drivers claimed the top six spots.
AJ Allmendinger was the quickest Chevrolet in seventh. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, fastest in practice Friday, turned just three laps and was 15th.
Balancing risk versus reward, the majority of the garage played it safe.
The 39-year-old Pastrana felt like he got enough educational seat time during the rain-shortened truck race Friday night. Pastrana finished 13th in his first race at Daytona in a decade.
He said his heart rate reached 182 beats per minute.
“Just under heart-attack level. It’s great,” he quipped. “I got to figure out a little bit on how to dip, dodge and dive (during wrecks). We’ll need a little bit of luck, but this car, this 67, it is locked in.”
Pastrana will start next to Johnson on the last row.
“Hopefully we won’t be a danger out there and people can start trusting me,” he said. “If it works like the truck, by the halfway point, we should have some friends.”
Diversity: When Josh Sims reports on NASCAR this season, the stock car series these days from the garage to the grandstands to top brass looks more like him. Yes, Sims takes pride in the fact that he will become the first Black pit reporter for the Daytona 500 and that his rapid rise at Fox has made him one of the primary faces of the network’s NASCAR coverage. More than that, Sims sees that NASCAR may finally be running out of unconquered firsts for people of color. For women. For any minority who perhaps has experienced an uneasy relationship with a series founded in the South 75 years ago, a generation before the civil rights era. Sims’ journey from NASCAR novice through a sports anchor gig in Charlotte, N.C., that sparked his passion in the sport had led to his biggest assignment yet: pit reporting as a Black man from one of auto racing’s signature events. “I never set out to be a first,” the 35-year-old Sims said. “I never set out to make history. I just wanted to be the best at what I was doing, whether it was hosting or reporting. At the same time, I kind of understand the platform and what it means for me to be doing this.”