NASCAR Xfinity: Alex Labbé at the back of the pack in free practice at Daytona Beach

Labbé conceded almost two seconds to the holder of the fastest time, Myatt Snider. But this result is misleading because the leaders rode in a peloton and took advantage of the slipstream. 

“I did my solo laps with the specific aim of preparing for the qualifying session. Not for the race”, he added. 

This qualifying session, scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, provides for only one flying lap for each. Labbé, he must be among the 33 fastest to ensure his place on the starting grid which will bring together 38 drivers. 

Most of them, by virtue of the points collected in the year last, are already guaranteed to take the start regardless of their time in qualifying, which is unfortunately not the case for Labbé. 

The latter certainly wants to redeem himself since the same date last year at Daytona, he failed to qualify, failing by only two hundredths of a second. 

“The behavior of the car is promising. For the qualifying lap alone, it is to be hoped that the engine meets my expectations. The important thing here at Daytona is speed. You never slow down in qualifying,” said Labbé. 

The race will start at 5 p.m. on Saturday.