Just 5 cars in final practice before Daytona 500 qualifiers

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) The final practice before the Daytona 500 qualifying races was free of chaos.

Of course, only five cars turned laps during the 1-hour, 25-minute practice session Thursday.

Kyle Larson, Cole Whitt, Michael Annett, JJ Yeley and Jeb Burton were the only drivers to get on the track. Larson, Annett and Burton were all involved in a wreck in practice Wednesday, the one started by Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick.

With temperatures expected to dip into the 30s for the twin qualifying races Thursday night, the track should have plenty of grip, so teams likely figured there could be nothing gained from getting out earlier in the day. And since there were several crashes in earlier practices, the risk was greater than the reward at this point in Speedweeks.