Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not have as good of a Speedweek at Daytona as Danica Patrick, but he finished it off in a positive way after topping the speed chart at the final practice before the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway.
Earnhardt, who won the 2004 event, had the fastest lap while averaging 198.592 mph around the Daytona track, beating out David Gilliland, Clint Bowyer, Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola, who rounded out the top five.
Danica Patrick, who has the pole at Daytona, and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Tony Stewart were two of 10 racers who skipped the final practice, as they both raced in the Nationwide event on Saturday afternoon. Patrick would be the first driver to win Daytona from the pole position since Dale Jarrett did in 2000. She would become just the ninth driver to do it the past 54 years.
Former Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon, 2010 Daytona 500 champ Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Terry Labonte and Joe Nemechek as well as Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth sat out the run.
"We don't have any plans to go out," Gordon said. "We feel like this entire week we have been able to learn everything we need to get prepared for the race tomorrow. ... We've got a great race car. We are excited. We've got a great opportunity here."
Earnhardt had a rough week at Daytona, but finished with some momentum after taking the practice. He came in eight place in the Sprint Unlimited and finished ninth in the qualifying races. He is in 19th place for Daytona, which marks his lowest spot in the past 14 years at the event.
His team will take the speed test as momentum and confident heading into the big race and although he came in 10th place in the 10-lap average. Almirola came in first on that.
"We are excited about this weekend and feel like we have a good car and got it driving good in that last practice session," Almirola said.
The final practice has very little contact and drafting between cars, as no driver wants to cause a wreck this late in the week. The biggest controversy was Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski hitting a bird.
"I killed a Tweetie bird," said Keselowski. He finished 17th.
"This is our 500 engine, so trying to get an idea of how it's going to perform," he said. "My car is really good. Definitely faster than what it was, so that's good, right? I'm definitely optimistic."
