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Practice report

Ryan Blaney tops first Michigan Cup practice at 202.617mph

Ryan Blaney topped Friday’s NASCAR Cup practice session at Michigan International Speedway with a lap over 202 mph.

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Hawk/Carlisle

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Hawk/Carlisle

Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images

Blaney was one of nine cars to post average lap speeds of over 200 mph in the abbreviated session. Just minutes before its conclusion, Blaney rocketed to the top of the speed chart with a lap at 202.617 mph.

Michigan has been a difficult track for Blaney, with only one finish better than 15th in six series starts.

Kyle Busch was second (201.935 mph) and Blaney’s Team Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, was third (201.867 mph). Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Aric Almirola and Joey Logano.

The start of the session was delayed by five minutes due to fuel spilled on the backstretch, apparently from one of the jet dryers that was working the track following the conclusion of ARCA practice.

About six minutes after the session began, the practice was put under caution again as there were more complaints about fluid on the backstretch.

Once the area was cleaned again, Hamlin was first car back on the track but after running through the area he declared it was “no good.”

NASCAR ended up extending the session an extra 10 minutes after several teams complained about the lack of track time do to no fault of their own.

Three drivers were forced to sit out the final 15 minutes of Friday’s practice – Garrett Smithley (late to inspection last weekend) and Elliott and Logano (both failed inspection twice last weekend).

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph
1 12 united_states Ryan Blaney  Ford 5 35.535     202.617
2 18 united_states Kyle Busch  Toyota 5 35.655 0.120 0.120 201.935
3 2 united_states Brad Keselowski  Ford 5 35.667 0.132 0.012 201.867
4 4 united_states Kevin Harvick  Ford 5 35.736 0.201 0.069 201.478
5 9 united_states Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 5 35.797 0.262 0.061 201.134
6 41 united_states Kurt Busch  Ford 9 35.887 0.352 0.090 200.630
7 14 united_states Clint Bowyer  Ford 14 35.898 0.363 0.011 200.568
8 21 united_states Paul Menard  Ford 5 35.944 0.409 0.046 200.312
9 10 united_states Aric Almirola  Ford 8 35.977 0.442 0.033 200.128
10 22 united_states Joey Logano  Ford 5 36.004 0.469 0.027 199.978
11 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 5 36.025 0.490 0.021 199.861
12 88 united_states Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 13 36.046 0.511 0.021 199.745
13 11 united_states Denny Hamlin  Toyota 10 36.079 0.544 0.033 199.562
14 31 united_states Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 7 36.098 0.563 0.019 199.457
15 20 united_states Erik Jones  Toyota 10 36.109 0.574 0.011 199.396
16 42 united_states Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 5 36.137 0.602 0.028 199.242
17 3 united_states Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 7 36.162 0.627 0.025 199.104
18 1 united_states Jamie McMurray  Chevrolet 4 36.175 0.640 0.013 199.032
19 24 united_states William Byron  Chevrolet 14 36.182 0.647 0.007 198.994
20 17 united_states Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 8 36.195 0.660 0.013 198.923
21 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 9 36.206 0.671 0.011 198.862
22 38 united_states David Ragan  Ford 9 36.236 0.701 0.030 198.697
23 6 united_states Matt Kenseth  Ford 14 36.239 0.704 0.003 198.681
24 19 mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota 9 36.240 0.705 0.001 198.675
25 37 united_states Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 10 36.264 0.729 0.024 198.544
26 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 6 36.279 0.744 0.015 198.462
27 34 united_states Michael McDowell  Ford 6 36.285 0.750 0.006 198.429
28 95 united_states Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 8 36.385 0.850 0.100 197.884
29 43 united_statesDarrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 6 36.408 0.873 0.023 197.759
30 13 united_states Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 8 36.488 0.953 0.080 197.325
31 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto  Ford 5 36.642 1.107 0.154 196.496
32 00 united_states Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 14 37.530 1.995 0.888 191.847
33 15 united_states Ross Chastain  Chevrolet 14 37.961 2.426 0.431 189.668
34 72 united_states Corey Lajoie  Chevrolet 13 38.116 2.581 0.155 188.897
35 23 united_states Gray Gaulding  Toyota 10 38.236 2.701 0.120 188.304
36 51 united_states B.J. McLeod  Chevrolet 8 38.410 2.875 0.174 187.451
37 7 canada D.J. Kennington  Chevrolet 14 38.630 3.095 0.220 186.384
38 99 united_states Garrett Smithley  Chevrolet 9 39.176 3.641 0.546 183.786
39 66 united_states Timmy Hill  Toyota 3 39.180 3.645 0.004 183.767

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