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Australia

Alex Bowman tops Kurt Busch in first Cup practice at Chicagoland

Alex Bowman topped the charts in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro in the first practice session of the weekend from Chicagoland Speedway.

 Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Axalta

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Axalta

Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images

Ryan Blaney set the pace early in the session at 175.547mph in the Team Penske Ford Mustang. 

Some drivers opted to draft with one another with the 2019 aero package brining some unknowns to this year's race at Chicagoland Speedway. In the closing minutes, a large pack of up to nine cars took to the circuit to get a better feel for the package.

"We're trying to knock out all the little details now," Denny Hamlin explained to NBCSN. "That we we can spend Happy Hour focusing on just speed and race setup."

There was a close call between Ryan Newman and Paul Menard, but otherwise no incidents during the session.

Kevin Harvick ultimately usurped Blaney for quickest single lap before Kurt Busch did the same. The No. 88 of Bowman was forced to replace a driveshaft during the session, but in the final seconds shot to the top of the board himself with a 175.942mph lap.

Bowman also led the way in best ten-lap consecutive averages ahead of Harvick and Clint Bowyer.

2018 race winner Kyle Busch clocked in 16th on the speed charts.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 29 30.692     175.942
2 1 United States Kurt Busch  Chevrolet 36 30.704 0.012 0.012 175.873
3 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford 26 30.708 0.016 0.004 175.850
4 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 34 30.718 0.026 0.010 175.793
5 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 28 30.736 0.044 0.018 175.690
6 12 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 28 30.761 0.069 0.025 175.547
7 6 United States Ryan Newman  Ford 25 30.827 0.135 0.066 175.171
8 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 44 30.889 0.197 0.062 174.820
9 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 35 30.925 0.233 0.036 174.616
10 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 33 30.939 0.247 0.014 174.537
11 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 27 30.941 0.249 0.002 174.526
12 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 30 30.961 0.269 0.020 174.413
13 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 42 30.974 0.282 0.013 174.340
14 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 32 31.000 0.308 0.026 174.194
15 8 United States Daniel Hemric  Chevrolet 34 31.006 0.314 0.006 174.160
16 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota 38 31.006 0.314 0.000 174.160
17 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford 29 31.010 0.318 0.004 174.137
18 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Ford 44 31.042 0.350 0.032 173.958
19 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 38 31.051 0.359 0.009 173.907
20 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 36 31.073 0.381 0.022 173.784
21 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 36 31.129 0.437 0.056 173.472
22 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 40 31.158 0.466 0.029 173.310
23 19 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 19 31.161 0.469 0.003 173.294
24 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 27 31.171 0.479 0.010 173.238
25 95 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Toyota 33 31.172 0.480 0.001 173.232
26 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 36 31.181 0.489 0.009 173.182
27 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 35 31.196 0.504 0.015 173.099
28 47 United States Ryan Preece  Chevrolet 33 31.219 0.527 0.023 172.972
29 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 30 31.256 0.564 0.037 172.767
30 36 United States Matt Tifft  Ford 28 31.376 0.684 0.120 172.106
31 15 United States Ross Chastain  Chevrolet 11 31.474 0.782 0.098 171.570
32 32 United States Corey Lajoie  Ford 17 31.543 0.851 0.069 171.195
33 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 29 31.697 1.005 0.154 170.363
34 52 United States Bayley Currey  Chevrolet 7 31.898 1.206 0.201 169.290
35 51 United States B.J. McLeod  Ford 6 32.001 1.309 0.103 168.745
36 53 United States Josh Bilicki  Chevrolet 3 32.045 1.353 0.044 168.513
37 27 United States Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 17 32.321 1.629 0.276 167.074
38 77 United States Quin Houff  Chevrolet 21 32.346 1.654 0.025 166.945

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