Blaney on top as Ford leads the way in second Daytona 500 practice

The Ford drivers have set an early pace at Daytona International Speedway, and they also aren’t afraid to mix it up in a draft.

Ryan Blaney led the way in Tuesday’s second practice session, jumping to the top of the board late in the going. Blaney and his Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric and Wood Brothers Racing associate Harrison Burton spent the last 20 minutes drafting together and swapping positions in the lineup. There was even some bumper tag going on between Cindric and Logano, but there was no harm and no foul.

The fastest 10 drivers in the second practice all drove a Ford.

Blaney’s fastest lap was 192.58mph (46.732 seconds). Logano was second fastest at 192.13mph. They were the only two drivers in the 192mph category.

Cole Custer was third fastest at 191.10mph, with Cody Ware fourth fastest at 191.09mph. Chris Buescher completed the top five at 191.08mph.

Rookie Harrison Burton was sixth fastest at 191.02mph, Chase Briscoe was seventh fastest at 190.94mph, Austin Cindric was eighth at 190.94mph, Brad Keselowski was ninth fastest at 190.89mph, and Aric Almirola was 10th fastest at 190.41mph.

Tyler Reddick, 15th fastest, ran the most laps in practice at 20.

Kaz Grala in the No. 50 Chevrolet for The Money Team Racing was the fastest driver without a charter. Grala was 22nd on the chart at 182.66mph. He was the only open car inside the top 30 in practice.

As is customary at Daytona, there were split agendas during practice. The session started with drivers looking for a clean lap to make a mock qualifying run. Others continued to draft with manufacturer teammates.

Keselowski and Buescher of RFK Racing were two of the most aggressive in working on the tandem draft; at least from Keselowski’s seat as he routinely latched onto his teammate’s bumper.

UP NEXT: Single-car qualifying at 8:05 p.m. ET Wednesday.