Mother Nature once again played her part in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as first practice for the top tier drivers was delayed by an hour until 5 PM ET. A weather front was in the area around Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR evacuated the stands and spotter areas due to lighting.

When practice did get underway all 44 drivers were on track in packs of cars to practice what the conditions will be like in the race tomorrow night, which begins at 11:30 PM ET and you catch a live commentary here on VAVEL USA.

Jamie McMurray was the fastest driver in the one hour long practice session with a time of 44.565 seconds, which is just over 202 MPH. A total of 18 drivers broke the 200 MPH barrier, a new record for the Super Speedway.

Rookie Kyle Larson, who drives the #42 car for Chip Ganassi Racing, was second quickest in the session with a time of 44.579 seconds. He wasn't the only surprise driver inside the top ten as Landon Cassill in the #40 car was ninth.

Cassill has had some great performances on restrictor plates this season. At the Daytona 500 the opener of the NASCAR season, Cassill grabbed an 11th place finish and at Talladega back in May he finished in 12th position. 

Trevor Bayne, who drives for the Wood Brothers team and was the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, was 13th quickest in the session and had some good news before the practice got underway as it was announced that he would have a full-time ride in the Sprint Cup Series next season in the #6 car.

This years Daytona 500 pole sitter Austin Dillon was 14th quickest and Danica Patrick, who grabbed the pole in 2013 for the Daytona 500, was 15th quickest but told crew chief Tony Gibson: "I'm struggling to get speed".

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is hoping to become only the sixth driver to sweep the Daytona races in a single season, could only manage to be 32nd quickest in the one hour session. Other big names drivers Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick could only get to 36th and 40th, respectively.

As has been the case for the past two seasons at restrictor plate tracks, six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson elected to practice on his own and he and crew chief Chad Knaus told reporters that they have reasons for this: "If we can get the car quicker on its own, it will be quicker in a pack."

Friday's scheduled knock-out qualifying may be rained out as the weather forecast is not looking too good at Daytona International Speedway. If this is the case it would mean that Thursday's practice results would set the grid for Saturday nights race and Terry Labonte would be the one driver that would miss the race.