Elliott backs it up in second practice

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- If anybody wondered whether Bill Elliott had drafting help or had something else going on when he led Saturday's first Daytona 500 practice session, Elliott answered that question in the second practice.
Elliott went out for one run in the final session and ran 187.950 mph to top the speed chart once again in the No. 21 Wood Brothers-owned Ford.
Does that make Elliott the favorite to win the pole Sunday afternoon?
"You can't tell about this business," Elliott said. "We got to not make any mistakes and see what tomorrow brings."
The Wood Brothers had a good car in practice last year, too, but failed to make the Daytona 500 field. The team believes it has learned something from that.
"I felt nearly this good a year ago standing here at this time." team co-owner Len Wood said. "But we managed to mess it up for qualifying. We burned up a gear. We have tried to go over it a number of times. We've talked about not beating ourselves this year because last year we beat ourselves."
Only the front-row starting spots for the Feb. 15 Daytona 500 are officially up for grabs today. Beyond that, however, the three fastest go-or-go-home cars will also ensure themselves of Daytona 500 spots with their speeds.
Martin Truex Jr. was second fastest in Saturday's late session with Dale Earnhardt Jr. third, Kyle Busch fourth and Ryan Newman fifth. Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, David Reutimann, Aric Almirola and Tony Stewart rounded out the top 10.