Practice report
NASCAR Cup Charlotte II
Bubba Wallace fastest in Roval Cup practice; Larson wrecks
Bubba Wallace and 23XI Racing team-mate Tyler Reddick topped an eventful practice session Saturday at the Charlotte Roval.
Jim Utter
Edited: Oct 8, 2023, 5:11 AM
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The top four average lap speeds came for the first 20-minute session on Saturday with Wallace leading the way at 102.295mph.
Reddick, who is also in the playoffs, was second fastest (102.210 mph) while Chase Briscoe was third (102.062 mph).
“Either way we do it, no matter what the strategy is, if I get the most out of our car, we’ll be stacked up near the top,” said Reddick, who led the field in ten-lap averages.
Corey LaJoie was fourth and A.J. Allmendinger – who led the second 20-minute group – was fifth overall.
Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Reddick had the fastest average lap speed (101.201 mph). Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. were second and third, respectively, in that category.
Just as the final minutes of the first group clicked off, Kyle Larson hit the wall near oval track Turn 1, doing extensive damage to his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Group A
23XI Racing teammates Wallace and Reddick led the way in the first 20-minute session with Wallace’s average lap speed of 102.295 mph at the top of the speed chart.
Reddick was second-quick (102.210 mph) and Briscoe was third (102.061 mph).
LaJoie ended up fourth and Daniel Suarez completed the top five.
Ty Dillon wrecked in Turn 1 in the opening minutes of practice and had to take his No. 77 Chevrolet to the garage for repairs. Christopher Bell also made contact with the wall shortly after that near the backstretch chicane.
In the final minutes of the session, Larson hit the wall entering oval Turn 1 and the damage was bad enough that he took his No. 5 Chevrolet right to the garage for repairs.
Larson’s team will move to a backup car which means he will not qualify and will start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.
Group B
Allmendinger was among the first to hit the track in the second group and had the top average lap speed )101.956 mph).
Ty Gibbs was second quick (101.813 mph) and Chase Elliott was third (101.607 mph).
Last week’s race winner, Ryan Blaney was fourth and Justin Haley rounded out the top five.
Blaney tagged the oval track Turn 1 wall in the opening minutes of the second session but did not appear to suffer serious damage to his No. 12 Ford.
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