Hitting the 200 mph mark: Speeds are up once again in Daytona
The last time the Daytona 500 pole-winning speed topped the magical 200 mile per hour barrier was way back in 1987, it likely will be reached again during Sunday's qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway.
Bill Elliott set the Daytona track qualifying record on Feb. 15, 1987, with a breathtaking lap of 210.364 mph, a record that has remained because later that year NASCAR instituted restrictor plates to limit the air-fuel mixture flowing into engines, thereby reducing horsepower and cutting speeds.
And while Elliott's track record is almost certainly safe, Sunday's Daytona 500 qualifying session (1:30 p.m., FOX) should see 200+ mph speeds as the cars will qualify in packs, instead of one at a time, as they have done in years past.
Groups of cars are much faster running together than by themselves, which was clear on Saturday.
In Saturday's first of two practice rounds at DIS, Roush Fenway Racing's Ricky Stenhouse led the way with a fast lap of 202.643 mph. Stenhouse led a group of 10 drivers who topped 200 mph in the session.
Stenhouse drafted with a group of Fords, who ended up in the top four positions. Behind Stenhouse were Sam Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne, who both ran 202.193 mph, and Aric Almirola at 201.979 mph. Fastest among the Chevrolet drivers was Dale Earnhardt Jr., fifth at 201.767 mph.
The second five consisted of Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, David Gilliland, Danica Patrick and Carl Edwards.
Afterward, Stenhouse was pleased with how his Ford ran.
"It was great to get back out on the racetrack and it was a lot of fun out there," said Stenhouse. "The Fastenal Ford Fusion is fast and feels really good on the track. We'll keep working with it in the next session and see what we have for qualifying tomorrow."
Early in the second session, Martin Truex Jr. pitted with an internal crack in his oil pan that did not require an engine change, while Ryan Newman had more severe engine problems, as the engine in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet let go.
"Something just happened in the bottom end of the motor going into Turn 3," said Newman. "Everything was going as planned until then. The Caterpillar Chevrolet tried to diesel on me, and it doesn't like to diesel. We will change the motor, figure out what happened to this one and get ready for tonight with a different race car and qualifying tomorrow."
Speeds were down in the second session, as only 42 of 49 drivers went out and few drafted together. Instead, most opted to do single-car runs, which were considerably slower than running in packs.
Michael McDowell led the second practice with a best lap of 199.322 mph in the Leavine Family Racing Ford. Jimmie Johnson was second, followed by Ty Dillon and the Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
