DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch may have led Thursday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Daytona Int’l Speedway, but the story on the high banks was the prowess of the Ford teams.

Nine of the top dozen cars at the end of the opening 55-minute session were Blue Oval drivers, representing three Cup championships, four Daytona 500 victories and a myriad of starts at the ‘World Center of Racing’.

However, it was Busch who had the fastest lap of all, posting a time of 45.584 seconds (197.438 mph) around the 2.5-mile tri-oval in his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota.

Leading the Ford contingent was defending Coke Zero 400 winner Brad Keselowski, touring Daytona in 45.632 seconds (197.230 mph) behind the wheel of the No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford.

Keselowski led 115 of 161 laps in last July’s race to notch his first premier series win at Daytona and the 20th of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.

2007 Daytona 500 champion Kevin Harvick was third-fastest overall (45.639/197.200) for Stewart-Haas Racing, followed by Keselowski’s teammate Joey Logano (45.647/197.165) and the Wood Brothers’ Ryan Blaney, who deadlocked Logano’s lap on the speed charts.

Two more Fords in Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto were sixth and seventh, with Austin Dillon’s Chevrolet breaking up the party in eighth and leading the ‘Bowtie Brigade’.

Trevor Bayne and Daytona 500 champion Kurt Busch completed the top 10, ahead of Ty Dillon and the Richard Petty Motorsports Ford of Darrell Wallace Jr., who returns to his substitute driving duties this week for the injured Aric Almirola.

Ahead of his final scheduled premier series start at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr. timed in 19th-quick during the opening practice.

Final practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona kicks off at 5 p.m. ET (NBCSN).

Full practice results can be viewed on the next page…