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Practice report
NASCAR Cup Darlington

Chase Elliott leads NASCAR Cup practice at Darlington

To kick off NASCAR’s official “Throwback” weekend, three iconic car numbers topped Saturday’s Cup Series practice session at Darlington – the Nos. 9, 43 and 24.

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, LLumar Throwback Chevrolet Camaro

The top five speeds from Saturday practice all came from the first 20-minute session with Chase Elliott leading the way with an average lap speed of 168.232 mph in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Erik Jones, driving the No. 43 for Legacy Motor Club, ended up second-fastest (167.653 mph) and William Byron, in Hendrick’s No. 24 Chevrolet, was third (167.550 mph).

Tyler Reddick was fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five. Kyle Busch was fastest in the second, 20-minute session.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Byron had the fastest average lap speed (163.704 mph). Elliott and Bubba Wallace were second and third, respectively, in that category.

In practice, Cup teams had the first opportunity to run on a different tire setup than they did last season at Darlington. Goodyear made construction updates on both the left and right-side tires.

Group A

Elliott led the way in the first 20-minute session and set a blistering pace with an average lap speed of 168.232 mph.

Jones ended up second-fastest (167.653 mph) while Byron was third (167.550 mph).

Reddick and Stenhouse rounded out the top five.

Austin Cindric spun in Turns 3 and 4 trying to get to pit road in the final minute of the session but did not appear to do any damage to his No. 2 Penske Ford.

Group B

Busch topped the second session with an average lap speed of 165.464 mph in his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Brad Keselowski was second-fastest (165.280 mph) and Ryan Blaney was third (165.064 mph).

Todd Gilliland and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five.

In the final minutes of the session, Kyle Larson scrubbed the wall but did not appear to do serious damage to his No. 5 Chevrolet.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 9 United States Chase Elliott Chevrolet 31 29.231     168.232
2 43 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 21 29.332 0.101 0.101 167.653
3 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 23 29.350 0.119 0.018 167.550
4 45 United States Tyler Reddick Toyota 31 29.376 0.145 0.026 167.402
5 47 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 30 29.447 0.216 0.071 166.998
6 23 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 25 29.512 0.281 0.065 166.631
7 34 United States Michael McDowell Ford 28 29.578 0.347 0.066 166.259
8 16 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 13 29.611 0.380 0.033 166.073
9 1 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 30 29.658 0.427 0.047 165.810
10 7 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 27 29.668 0.437 0.010 165.754
11 17 United States Chris Buescher Ford 33 29.697 0.466 0.029 165.592
12 8 United States Kyle Busch Chevrolet 34 29.720 0.489 0.023 165.464
13 6 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 26 29.753 0.522 0.033 165.281
14 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 34 29.792 0.561 0.039 165.064
15 38 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 32 29.797 0.566 0.005 165.037
16 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 23 29.815 0.584 0.018 164.937
17 2 United States Austin Cindric Ford 30 29.820 0.589 0.005 164.909
18 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 29 29.821 0.590 0.001 164.904
19 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 27 29.821 0.590 0.000 164.904
20 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 31 29.834 0.603 0.013 164.832
21 14 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 34 29.868 0.637 0.034 164.644
22 19 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 31 29.889 0.658 0.021 164.529
23 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 30 29.898 0.667 0.009 164.479
24 4 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 23 29.932 0.701 0.034 164.292
25 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 31 29.956 0.725 0.024 164.161
26 21 United States Harrison Burton Ford 26 29.974 0.743 0.018 164.062
27 48 Josh Berry Chevrolet 32 29.975 0.744 0.001 164.057
28 77 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 23 29.977 0.746 0.002 164.046
29 41 United States Ryan Preece Ford 34 29.979 0.748 0.002 164.035
30 31 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 29 30.028 0.797 0.049 163.767
31 99 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 32 30.049 0.818 0.021 163.653
32 42 United States Noah Gragson Chevrolet 17 30.156 0.925 0.107 163.072
33 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 35 30.175 0.944 0.019 162.969
34 51 United States Ryan Newman Ford 18 30.406 1.175 0.231 161.731
35 78 United States B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 13 30.573 1.342 0.167 160.848
36 15 United States Brennan Poole Ford 16 30.584 1.353 0.011 160.790

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