Dale Earnhardt Jr. Leads Rain-shortened Daytona 500 Practice
fanhouse.com
Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Daytona Int’l Speedway
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Eager to put a winless 2009 season behind him, Dale Earnhardt Jr. started off 2010 atop the speed charts in a rain-shortened practice Friday for Daytona 500 pole qualifying.
Earnhardt posted a fast lap of 188.679 mph in the No.. 88 AMP Energy Chevrolet — edging his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon.
Teams only had about 40 minutes on track before rain sent them to the garage. More bad weather was forecast — including tornado warnings just south of Daytona Beach — so NASCAR called off the rest of the day’s track activity.
There will be a special 30-minute practice Saturday morning for eight cars that did not get any track time — a group consisting of mostly part-timers who may have to resort to time trial speeds to earn a starting spot in the Daytona 500.