Ragan paces first Daytona practice session

David Ragan was fastest in the first of two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practices Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

In his No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, Ragan put down a lap of 194.898 mph. Kasey Kahne was second fastest at 194.793 mph. The rest of the top five were Daytona 500 pole-sitter Chase Elliott (194.776 mph), Ryan Newman (194.717 mph), and Jimmie Johnson (194.616 mph).

Only 21 drivers practiced during the 55-minute session, which saw a mixture of single-car runs and drafting.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (194.586 mph), Paul Menard (194.405 mph), Aric Almirola (194.032 mph), Landon Cassill (193.657 mph) and Matt DiBenedetto (193.536 mph) filled out the top 10.

Brad Keselowski brought out a brief debris caution early in the session when his No. 2 Ford had a left-rear brake rotor come apart.