Wednesday was a beautiful mild day for Winston Cup practice and Busch qualifying. During the morning Winston Cup practice session, Derrike turned a fast lap of 48.10 during the 30 laps run. Due to a visibility problem with the driver side mirror, Derrike drove the Friendly's Chevrolet in the high groove most of the practice. for the afternoon practice session, the team put more gears in the car. While the change added about 200 RPM's the overall speeds were slightly lower and the car did not "suck up" as well in the draft.

During Tuesday's practice session, Derrike narrowly avoided the multi-car pile-up. Joey Knuckler, Derrike's spotter, skillfully guided Derrike low, through the smoke and debris with only minimal damage to the front valance as a result of the encounter.

At Daytona this year, Quest Motor Racing has the most popular hauler in the Winston Cup garage area. Throughout the day, numerous crew members, other teams, and NASCAR Officials took advantage of the large cooler loaded with ice cream treats compliments of Friendly's.

In the afternoon Busch qualifying session, Derrike turned laps at speeds of 176.734 and 179.483 miles per hour. The #49 Taurus will start Saturday's race in the 40th spot.