Bubba Wallace leads NASCAR Cup practice at Homestead; Logano wrecks

It’s actually the first start at the track for Wallace since 2021 as he was serving a one-race suspension from NASCAR at this race one year ago for intentionally wrecking another opponent.

Wallace led the overall speed chart with an average lap speed of 169.088 mph.

Austin Cindric was second fastest overall (167.999 mph) and playoff driver Ryan Blaney was third overall (167.764 mph). All three came from Group A.

Tyler Reddick was fastest in Group B and eighth quick overall.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Wallace had the fastest average speed (163.049 mph. Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson were second and third fastest in that category.

Group A

Wallace was heads up better than the competition in Group A with an average lap speed of 169.088 mph.

Cindric was second quick at 167.999 mph while Blaney was the top playoff driver at 167.764 mph.

Both Blaney and Chase Briscoe’s cars were among those smoking once they parked after that practice session – likely from brake heat.

Christopher Bell was fourth and Michael McDowell rounded out the top five.

Playoff drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin were sixth and seventh quick, respectively.

Group B

Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate, Reddick, led the second session with an average lap speed of 166.904 mph.

Joey Logano was second fastest (166.707 mph) and Ross Chastain ended up third (166.538 mph).

Last week’s winner Larson was fourth and A.J. Allmendinger ended up fifth.

in the final two minutes of the session, Logano spun off Turn 2 and wrecked on the backstretch, which did extensive damage to his No. 22 Penske Ford. He will have to move to a backup car and start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.