The pack was back again in Wednesday's NASCAR Sprint Cup practice sessions for Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying races. Ford drivers occupied the top four spots in the opening session while Aric Almirola claimed the fastest lap in the final session of the day.

Matt Kenseth's lap at 200.853 mph edged defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne for first on the speed chart in the first session that began at noon eastern. Bayne ran 200.817 mph on his best lap.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Marcos Ambrose and Mark Martin completed the top-five.

Almirola drove the Richard Petty Motorsports Ford to the top of the leader board in the second session that ended at 4:00 p.m. ET. Almirola ran a lap at 199.712 mph to best David Stremme's 199.331 mph.

Regan Smith was third followed by Robert Richardson, Jr. and Greg Biffle.

Thursday's Gatorade Duels begin at 2:00 p.m. ET and will be live on SPEED.

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