Patrick, Kenseth impress as final morning Thunder session wraps up

Patrick, Kenseth impress as final morning Thunder session wraps up

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After Friday’s wreck sidelined a dozen cars and sent many of them packing, a thinned-out morning session still had plenty of star-powered headlines in the final day of Preseason Thunder testing Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Danica Patrick, who begins her first full-time season at NASCAR's highest level in 2013 and has finished in the top-10 in three out of four practice sessions before Saturday, maintained her success in Practice 5. The No. 10 Chevrolet driver clocked in at 193.648 mph on her fifth lap, notching her second top-3 finish. She placed third in Practice 1 on Thursday with a top speed of 192.583.
Toyota driver Matt Kenseth, who is embarking on his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, was the only driver to hit 194 mph in Practice 5 with a top speed of 194.062. This comes on the heels of his top-3 finish in Practice 3 Friday with a top speed of 193.121. He was also tops in Practice 1 (192.757) and second in Practice 2 (195.385).

Trevor Bayne, winner of the 2011 Daytona 500, was less than half a second off Kenseth’s pace at 193.686, while Paul Menard (193.469) and Tony Stewart (193.187) rounded out the top-5.
Notables from 11-20 are Dale Earnhardt Jr. (14^th, 191.980), Jimmie Johnson (15^th, 191.828) and Carl Edwards (17^th, 191.579).

An afternoon session is scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m. as teams continue preparation for the Feb. 24 Daytona 500 with the new Generation-6 car