DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Ford led the final Daytona 500 practice with Brad Keselowski pacing the field as he attempts to snap a 15-year winless drought Sunday in “The Great American Race.”

Keselowski has long struggled at Daytona International Speedway, where he’s typically a contender but gets caught in the carnage that is common. The field is jam-packed at 41 cars, the most entries in a decade, and if the Daytona 500 is anything like Saturday’s crash-filled ARCA Series race, it might get messy.

That could be tough for Keselowski, who has failed to finish in nine Daytona 500s.

He co-owns Roush Fenway Keselowski, which built him a Ford that went 193.307 mph in Saturday’s 55-minute final tuneup session.

He was followed by Alex Bowman in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, and then Cole Custer, back in the Cup Series after a demotion to the Xfinity Series, in a Ford fielded as Haas Factory now that Stewart-Haas Racing has closed.

Justin Allgaier was fourth for the feel-good story of the Daytona 500. His Chevrolet is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and is making its Cup Series debut in the Daytona 500 in a car sponsored by singer Chris Stapleton’s whiskey label. Earnhardt has been on an emotional journey with this endeavor and was a virtual wreck the day Allgaier raced his way into the field.

Kyle Larson, the 2021 champion who has never won the Daytona 500, was fifth in a Chevy and gave Hendrick two drivers in the top five of the session.

Corey Lajoie, who used his kids’ college fund to pay for the seat he raced into the Daytona 500, was sixth in a Ford fielded by Rick Ware Racing.

Ryan Preece was seventh in a Ford from RFK, Justin Haley was eighth in a Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports and Chris Buescher put all three RFK cars inside the top nine. Zane Smith rounded out the top 10 with another Ford, this one from Front Row Motorsports.

Ford is the only manufacturer so far that has shown it can keep up with Toyota, which won the pole with Chase Briscoe, qualified Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. for the race on speed, and then won the first of Thursday’s two qualifying races. But Toyota was not as fast in final practice with Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing 13th on the speed chart.

Ford showed speed when Austin Cindric qualified second for the Daytona 500 and then beat Erik Jones, who was in a Toyota, at the finish of their qualifying race. Cindric was 21st on Saturday.

Defending race winner William Byron was 23rd in final practice, while reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano was 12th. Helio Castroneves, the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner who used a controversial new “world-class driver” provisional to push the field to 41 cars, was 20th.

Only 24 of the 41 drivers practiced Saturday, with many choosing not to risk damaging their cars ahead of NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl. Among those who didn’t practice Saturday were pole-sitter Chase Briscoe, qualifying-race winner Bubba Wallace and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, all among the fast Toyotas.