DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Seven-time is formally again.

Jimmie Johnson, making his return to inventory automotive racing after a two-year dalliance in IndyCar, topped the primary observe session for the Daytona 500 on Friday.

The 2-time Daytona 500 winner and seven-time Cup Collection champion reached a high velocity of 194.25 mph across the 2½-mile superspeedway. He edged fellow Chevrolet drivers Chase Elliott — his former teammate at Hendrick Motorsports — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and pole-sitter Alex Bowman, the motive force who changed Johnson when he left NASCAR after the 2020 season, to create a feel-good second for the bowtie.

It was Johnson’s first prolonged stint behind the wheel within the Subsequent Gen automotive at Daytona Worldwide Speedway. He did participate in a one-day observe session at Phoenix final month.

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“I truthfully suppose it is too early to learn far into this. It’s plate racing, and that was only a observe session,” Johnson stated. “We did not make any errors and did some issues proper to finish up the place we did.

“Something can nonetheless occur. However I am glad to be in right here, I am glad we’re on the high of the board and never the underside. I am positive the headlines would learn a bit in a different way if we had been on the opposite finish of it.”

Johnson returned to NASCAR in November as part-owner of what’s now known as Legacy Motor Membership, a company that started as Petty Enterprises practically 75 years in the past. He has as far as a driver entered the Daytona 500 — Johnson will begin thirty ninth on Sunday — the road course race in Chicago in July and the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of NASCAR’s Storage 56 venture.

How’d the brand new automotive really feel?

“It drives like a inventory automotive,” he quipped. “It would not drive like an IndyCar, thank God. We all know how that went.”

Johnson drove the No. 48 for his total profession however will likely be behind the wheel of the No. 84 when he competes in NASCAR this yr.

Aric Almirola and Joey Logano, each winners in Thursday night time’s qualifying races, led a prepare of Ford drivers behind the Chevy leaders. Almirola and Logano had been fifth and sixth and adopted by Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Kevin Harvick, Zane Smith, Chris Buescher and Harrison Burton.

Martin Truex Jr. was the quickest Toyota driver in seventeenth.

The quick lap capped a giant day for Johnson, who earlier flew with the Air Drive Thunderbirds earlier than turning 34 laps within the one-hour observe session. He blacked out within the jet however did not get sick.

“By no means felt something like that, the adrenalize, the acceleration,” he stated.

Thirty-seven of 40 drivers turned no less than one lap in Friday night time’s observe. Kaulig Racing teammates AJ Allmendinger and Justin Haley sat out together with Riley Herbst of Rick Ware Racing.

There’s one observe remaining for the sixty fifth working of “The Nice American Race,” and a number of other drivers are anticipated to skip the ultimate session as a result of they do not wish to threat any injury earlier than the season opener.