DAYTONA BEACH, Fla – The start of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season began on Saturday. It all started off with 20 drivers taking to the high banks of Daytona for Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona practice. Following that, we saw two Daytona 500 qualifying practices for all 42 drivers on this year’s entry list.

Unlike the Clash practice, both ‘500 practice sessions were clean. The problem with both sessions is, it’s hard to figure out who the favorites are for the front row for Sunday’s qualifying session.

Everyone had varying strategies. The top speeds in both sessions were run in a draft. Some drivers elected to do group running and others single car runs. Even for those doing single car runs, some didn’t tape up fully or even go on a full blown qualifying setup runs. They left some speed on the table.

So, to predict on who will be on the pole for next Sunday’s race, there isn’t a clear favorite.

In the first session, Toyota’s teamed up with 10 or so minutes left in the 50 minute session to lay down some hot laps. Three of the four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota’s with Matt DiBenedetto and Parker Kligerman lined up their Toyota’s to run the quickest laps of the session.

Martin Truex Jr. was fastest with a speed of 195.920 mph in his No. 19 Toyota. Kyle Busch was P2 with a lap around the 2.5-mile track of 195.852 mph in his No. 18 Toyota. Erik Jones was third (195.793 mph) in his No. 20 Toyota while Denny Hamlin who was caught up in a crash in Clash practice elected to do single car runs.

Richard Childress Racing and their alliances lined up to grab spots fourth through seventh.

Tyler Reddick was fourth in his No. 31 Chevrolet with a speed of 194.095 mph. Ty Dillon (194.032 mph), Brendan Gaughan (194.024) and Daniel Hemric (193.928 mph) were fifth through seventh respectively.

The top lap without a drafting partner was set by last year’s pole winner Alex Bowman. He went 193.079 mph. William Byron had the next best no tow speed at 192.008 mph. He was 12th overall.

Final practice was delayed a few minutes due to a rain shower than fell on the speedway around 2:15 p.m. ET. The session was also halted early due to another rain shower that hit the track about 20 or so minutes before the completion.

In the limited practice time Darrell Wallace Jr. was quickest with a speed of 195.020 mph in his No. 43 Chevrolet. Wallace, battled Denny Hamlin last year on the final lap en route to a runner-up finish.

Ty Dillon was second with a time of 195.008 mph while David Ragan (194.940 mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (194.574 mph) and Paul Menard (193.586 mph) rounded out the top five in the abbreviated session.

Only 36 cars were able to get on the track in final practice.