Practice report
NASCAR Cup Darlington
Austin Cindric tops Cup practice; Chase Elliott wrecks
Austin Cindric ended up fastest in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice at Darlington that saw a pair of top drivers with incidents that will force them to miss qualifying.
Jim Utter
Published: May 7, 2022, 3:37 PM
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Cindric had the overall fastest average lap speed (167.270 mph), which he set in the Group B session.
Cindric’s Penske teammate, Joey Logano, ended up second-fastest overall (166.517 mph) while Denny Hamlin was third (166.450 mph).
Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick – who were both in Group A – completed the top-five.
Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Logano had the top average speed (163.718 mph). Ryan Blaney and Reddick were second and third, respectively, in that category.
Group B
Cindric set the fastest average lap speed of this session (167.270 mph) in the opening minutes.
Logano was second (166.517 mph) and Hamlin third (166.450 mph). Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five.
About nine minutes into the session, Elliott wrecked hard in Turns 3 and Turn 4 and did significant damage to his No. 9 Chevrolet.
His team was forced to move to a backup car and he will miss qualifying and have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.
“Just had the left-rear (tire) going down on the back (stretch). I recognized it but I just couldn’t slow down in time,” Elliott said. “I hate that. I don’t know what to do. Hopefully, that’s not a trend that continues tomorrow.
“It’s kind of a concerning thing. I saw (Harvick) had one in a similar manner but fortunately he was in a spot where he could keep going.”
Just as the session ended, Brad Keselowski spun around but didn’t appear to suffer any damage.
Group A
Chastain topped the first practice session with an average lap speed of 165.659 mph.
Reddick was second (165.609 mph) and Kyle Busch third (165.397 mph). Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five.
About eight minutes into the session Kevin Harvick got loose then came to a stop on the track with a flat left-rear tire.
Harvick’s team was forced to the garage to replace the rear diffuser on his No. 4 Ford and was not able to continue in practice and will miss qualifying. He will start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.
In the final minute of the session, Corey LaJoie spun off Turn 4, which brought an end to the Group A practice. LaJoie had completed the most laps in the session (29).
Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 2 
Austin Cindric Ford 22 29.399 167.271 2 22 Joey Logano Ford 32 29.532 0.133 0.133 166.518 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 26 29.544 0.145 0.012 166.450 4 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 18 29.685 0.286 0.141 165.659 5 8 Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 20 29.694 0.295 0.009 165.609 6 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 21 29.732 0.333 0.038 165.398 7 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 14 29.742 0.343 0.010 165.342 8 99 
Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 26 29.756 0.357 0.014 165.264 9 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 22 29.775 0.376 0.019 165.159 10 42 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 24 29.805 0.406 0.030 164.992 11 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 27 29.814 0.415 0.009 164.943 12 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 28 29.838 0.439 0.024 164.810 13 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 26 29.842 0.443 0.004 164.788 14 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota 18 29.854 0.455 0.012 164.722 15 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 12 29.861 0.462 0.007 164.683 16 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 27 29.867 0.468 0.006 164.650 17 17 Chris Buescher Ford 24 29.885 0.486 0.018 164.551 18 14 Chase Briscoe Ford 15 29.902 0.503 0.017 164.457 19 34 Michael McDowell Ford 21 29.920 0.521 0.018 164.358 20 45 Kurt Busch Toyota 26 29.925 0.526 0.005 164.331 21 6 Brad Keselowski Ford 28 29.927 0.528 0.002 164.320 22 20 Christopher Bell Toyota 28 29.988 0.589 0.061 163.986 23 24 William Byron Chevrolet 25 29.995 0.596 0.007 163.947 24 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet 24 30.011 0.612 0.016 163.860 25 41 Cole Custer Ford 24 30.019 0.620 0.008 163.816 26 51 Cody Ware Ford 12 30.025 0.626 0.006 163.784 27 16 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 14 30.052 0.653 0.027 163.636 28 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 29 30.055 0.656 0.003 163.620 29 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet 16 30.070 0.671 0.015 163.538 30 10 Aric Almirola Ford 27 30.087 0.688 0.017 163.446 31 21 Harrison Burton Ford 28 30.091 0.692 0.004 163.424 32 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 28 30.099 0.700 0.008 163.381 33 15 J.J. Yeley Ford 14 30.400 1.001 0.301 161.763 34 38 Todd Gilliland Ford 23 30.436 1.037 0.036 161.572 35 77 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 19 30.998 1.599 0.562 158.642 36 78 B.J. McLeod Ford 1 34.065 4.666 3.067 144.359
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