2026 Daytona 500 Practice Results: Austin Cindric paces opening practice

Published February 11, 2026

Daytona International Speedway was alive again on Wednesday as the NASCAR Cup Series officially opened the Daytona 500 with the first practice. 2022 race winner Austin Cindric led the 45-car field with a session-best lap of 48.025 seconds (187.402 mph) in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford.

Ross Chastain and Corey LaJoie followed closely behind. Check out the full results below.

2026 Daytona 500 Practice Results

Austin Cindric, 48.025 seconds
Ross Chastain, 48.146
Corey LaJoie, 48.253
Bubba Wallace, 48.262
Daniel Suarez, 48.494
Alex Bowman, 48.522
Erik Jones, 48.585
Corey Heim, 48.599
Kyle Larson, 48.679
Jimmie Johnson, 48.688
John Hunter Nemechek, 48.737
Kyle Busch, 48.775
Chase Briscoe, 48.815
Austin Dillon, 48.87
Riley Herbst, 48.877
Ty Dilon, 48.89
Connor Zilisch, 48.937
Chris Buescher, 48.954
Justin Allgaier, 48.99
Chase Elliott, 48.994
Josh Berry, 48.996
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 48.998
Denny Hamlin, 49.005
Ryan Preece, 49.007
Cole Custer, 49.035
Anthony Alfredo, 49.041
Tyler Reddick, 49.043
Brad Keselowski, 49.066
Carson Hocevar, 49.08
Christopher Bell, 49.084
Ryan Blaney, 49.095
Joey Logano, 49.102
Cody Ware, 49.113
William Byron, 49.189
Chandler Smith, 49.202
Ty Gibbs, 49.237
AJ Allmendinger, 49.244
Shane van Gisbergen, 49.321
Noah Gragson, 49.395
Zane Smith, 49.499
BJ McLeod, 49.656
Casey Mears, 49.81
JJ Yeley, 50.126

What is the Daytona 500 Schedule?

Wednesday, February 11

NASCAR Cup Series Single-Car Qualifying (one lap, two rounds) - 8:15 p.m. ET (FS1)

Thursday, February 12

ARCA Series Practice - 4 p.m. ET
Truck Series Practice - 5 p.m. ET (FS1)
NASCAR Cup Series Duel #1 - 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
NASCAR Cup Series Duel #2 - 8:45 p.m. ET (FS1)

Friday, February 13

ARCA Series Qualifying - 1:30 p.m. ET
Truck Series Qualifying - 3 p.m. ET
Xfinity Series Practice - 4:30 p.m. ET (CW)
NASCAR Cup Series Practice - 5:35 - 6:25 p.m. ET (FS1)
Fresh from Florida 250 Truck Series race (100 laps) - 7:30 p.m. ET (FS1)

Saturday, February 14

Xfinity Series Qualifying - 10 a.m. ET (CW)
ARCA Menards Series 200 race (80 laps) - 12 p.m. ET (FOX)
NASCAR Cup Series final practice - 3 - 3:55 p.m. ET (FS1)
United Rentals 300 Xfinity Series race (120 laps) - 5 p.m. ET (CW)

Sunday, February 15

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 (200 laps) - 1:30 p.m. ET (FOX)

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/2026-daytona-500-practice-results-austin-cindric-paces-opening-practice