NSCS: Bayne and Biffle To Start Can-Am Duel From Rear; McDowell Leads First Practice

After making rear-gear changes, Roush Fenway Racing teammates Trevor Bayne and Greg Biffle will both start their respective Can-Am Duels from the rear of the field. Teams are allowed to make a rear-gear change following the Can-Am Duel before the Daytona 500, but are not allowed to make a change before the event.

Bayne and Biffle join Kevin Harvick, Brian Vickers and Martin Truex Jr. as driver starting from the rear. Those drivers have to start from the rear after technical infractions, which can be found here.

Meanwhile, Michael McDowell would top the chart in the first of two practices on Wednesday with a lap of 200.173 mph. McDowell enters his second season with Leavine Family Racing, looking to improve upon a best-finish of 20th last season. He was followed by Roush Fenway Racing teammates Bayne, Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“We were working on being able to run the top, the middle, the bottom – the guys wanted to try everything that was possible,” he said. “It’s not quite going as fast as it’ll go with a full field of 30 cars, but I’m happy with the speed that it has.”

Casey Mears was fifth quickest, followed by Paul Menard, Regan Smith, Chase Elliott, A.J. Allmendinger and Brian Scott. Elliott, who is the pole sitter for the first Can-Am Duel and Daytona 500, spent the second half of the practice working on his entry to pit road.

“I just wanted to do it a couple different times,” he said. “Made a couple changes, working on the dash – I was happy with the way it drafted, just working on getting the dash the way I wanted.”

Other notables include Jimmie Johnson sticking to his single-car runs, while Joe Gibbs Racing did not make an appearance on track.