Brad Keselowski speaks with SPEED reporter Hermie Sadler at Daytona Preseason Thunder. (Image: SPEED)

[Thursday 5:42 pm ET]

THURSDAY AFTERNOON PRACTICE SPEEDS:
1. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 195.712 miles per hour
2. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 195.385 mph
3. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 195.329 mph
4. Mark Martin, No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, 195.063 mph
5. Jeff Burton, No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 194.620 mph
6. Paul Menard, No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 193.340 mph
7. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy, 192.934 mph
8. Marcos Ambrose, No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, 192.530 mph
9. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, 192.513 mph
10. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, 192.489 mph
11. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 192.402 mph
12. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy, 192.176 mph
13. Trevor Bayne, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, 191.608 mph
14. Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 192.020 mph
15. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy, 191.996 mph
16. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 191.955 mph
17. Austin Dillon, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 191.914 mph
18. Regan Smith, No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevy, 191.795 mph
19. Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, 191.661 mph
20. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 191.661 mph
21. Ryan Newman, No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy, 191.620 mph
22. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 191.489 mph
23. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy, 191.428 mph
24. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 191.396
25. Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy, 191.002 mph
26. Joey Logano, No. 22 Penske Racing Ford, 190.795 mph
27. Josh Wise, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, 190.593 mph
28. Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 190.545 mph
29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 190.512 mph
30. Casey Mears, No. 13 Germain Racing Ford, 190.355 mph
31. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Penske Racing Ford, 189.958 mph
32. Dave Blaney, No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevy, 189.673 mph
33. Scott Speed, No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Ford, 189.040 mph
34. Bobby Labonte, No. 47 JTG Racing Toyota, 188.466

[Thursday 5:36 pm ET]

VIDEO: JEFF GORDON INTERVIEW:




[Thursday 2:52 pm ET]

VIDEO: HAMLIN, KENSETH FIRST TO DRAFT:




[Thursday 2:34 pm ET]

'SMOKE' PRAISES G6: Count Tony Stewart as one of the drivers sold on the new G6 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars.

“We are excited, obviously. We have a lot of work to do to get all three teams ready for the year with the new body changes. So far, so good,” said Stewart, the three-time series champion driver and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing.

“The big thing is just getting here and seeing the new look of the cars; I think it really looks good. It’s nice to see. I’m glad we finally got away from the Car of Tomorrow that wasn’t, I don’t think, the best of ideas. … It is nice to get back to cars that look like production cars again.”

[Thursday 1:56 pm ET]

DRAFTING BEGINS AT DIS: The first two drivers to draft together on Thursday were Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin (195.712 mph) and Matt Kenseth. Hamlin gave Kenseth’s car a couple of shots during the early afternoon session at Daytona International Raceway. Afterward, crewmen from both JGR cars took a close look at Kenseth’s rear bumper, which received some minor damage in the contact. Hamlin said the new G6 cars make the old two-car tandem drafting a thing of the past.

“The back car gets a lot of air to it,” said Hamlin. “So it essentially makes it hard to suck up to the front car. I think it will bode well for our competition at other race tracks going forward, where the front car doesn’t have such a huge advantage. That part of it is pretty optimistic. And it definitely will lend more to pack racing vs. two-car tandem.”

[Thursday 1:34 pm ET]

THURSDAY MORNING PRACTICE SPEEDS:
1. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 192.757 miles per hour
2. Marcos Ambrose, No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, 192.736 mph
3. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy, 192.583 mph
4. Jeff Burton, No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 192.526 mph
5. Paul Menard, No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 192.460 mph
6. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 192.349 mph
7. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, 192.143 mph
8. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 191.771 mph
9. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy, 191.718 mph
10. Austin Dillon, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 191.648 mph
11.Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, 191.599 mph
12. Regan Smith, No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevy, 191.461 mph
13. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 191.383 mph
14. Ryan Newman, No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy, 191.302 mph
15. Trevor Bayne, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, 191.290 mph
16. Martin Truex Jr., No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, 191.266 mph
17. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy, 191.253 mph
18. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 191.188 mph
19. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 191.087 mph
20. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy, 191.034 mph
21. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy, 190.925 mph
22. Mark Martin, No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, 190.593 mph
23. Joey Logano, No. 22 Penske Racing Ford, 190.561 mph
24. Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 190.553 mph
25. Kurt Busch, No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy, 190.500 mph
26. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 190.452 mph
27. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, 190.142 mph
28. Casey Mears, No. 13 Germain Racing Ford, 190.026 mph
29. Josh Wise, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, 190.010 mph
30. Rick Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 189.853 mph
31. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Penske Racing Ford, 189.669 mph
32. Dave Blaney, No. 36 Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevy, 189.418 mph
33. Bobby Labonte, No. 47 JTG Racing Toyota, 187.196 mph
34. Scott Speed, No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Ford, 186.990 mph




[Thursday 11:39 am ET]

GORDON HAPPY WITH CAR: Jeff Gordon ended the 2012 season with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but this year starts from square one with every other driver, thanks to the new G6 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars. Gordon said his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was fast out of the box in the first day of Daytona Preseason Thunder testing.

“The first thing I noticed today was just how fast the cars are,” said the four-time series champion. “With this spoiler and the package that we have on aerodynamics, the cars are just getting up to speed really quick.”

Gordon ran 191.771 miles per hour in single-car runs Thursday morning.

[Thursday 10:58 am ET]

DANICA FIGHTING COLD: Danica Patrick, who will run the full NASCAR Sprint Cup season for the first time in 2013, is fighting off a cold at Daytona. During Thursday morning testing, Patrick also battled a driveline vibration in her No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet SS. That said, Patrick was impressed with her new car.

“I think they look really, really good,” said Patrick. “… I think people are going to really like it, especially given the fact that they look so much more like what you can buy at the dealership. I’m sure we’ll sell a lot of Chevys.”

As for her two upcoming GoDaddy.com Super Bowl commercials, Patrick said she plays an airline pilot in one and appears with supermodel Bar Refaeli in the other. “I’m sure she steals the show,” Patrick said of Refaeli. “I’m kind of a little narrator in it. We’re redefining sexy and explaining a little bit more about what that means in relation to GoDaddy.com.”

EDWARDS TALKS G6: Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards said the new suspension geometry of the G6 Sprint Cup cars could make the Daytona 500 very unpredictable.

“The rear end of the car is really unhooked when you go into the corner,” Edwards said Thursday morning after a run in his No. 99 RFR Ford Fusion. “… When I turn into the corner, I can kind of feel the rear of the car moving a little bit more, so I think it’s going to be a pretty wild race. If we get the cars sliding around like that, a hot, sunny day, it’s going to be crazy.”

[Thursday 10:42 am ET]

BRAD KESELOWSKI INTERVIEW:




[Thursday 9:54 am ET]

HAMLIN LEAVING EARLY: Denny Hamlin will only be at practice today, because girlfriend Jordan Fish is expecting the couple’s first child soon. Hamlin will head back to Charlotte after the first day of testing to be with Fish.

[Thursday 9:34 am ET]

WALTRIP GETS RIDE: Two-time Daytona 500 champion, Michael Waltrip will pilot Swan Racing's No. 30 Toyota in the Daytona 500. Tony Eury Jr. will serve as his crew chief, with Steve Hmiel as competition director.

"I am thrilled to drive the No. 30 Toyota for Swan Racing and the chance to win a third Daytona 500," Waltrip said in a statement. "Reuniting with Tony Jr. and Steve Hmiel brings back a lot of good memories and is going to create new ones."