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