Practice report

NASCAR Cup

Chase Elliott leads opening Cup practice from Bristol

Chase Elliott, who struggled in this season’s first race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, ended up fastest in Friday’s first practice session.

Jim Utter

Edited: Sep 6, 2018, 8:54 AM

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Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro NAPA Auto Parts

Elliott’s fastest average lap speed of 126.645 mph just edged Kyle Larson (126.312 mph). Alex Bowman ended up third (126.295 mph). Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney completed the top-five.

In five career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol, Elliott’s best finish of fourth came in his first series race in 2016. This spring, he started 16th and finished 29th.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Joey Logano, spring race winner Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

Martin Truex Jr. was fastest among the drivers who completed at least 10 consecutive laps (123.290 mph). Rounding out the top five in that category were Kyle Busch, Stenhouse, Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.

The teams of Daniel Suarez, Ryan Newman, Michael McDowell and Darrell Wallace Jr. sat out the final 15 minutes of the first practice session for failing pre-race inspection two times last weekend at Michigan.

Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 9 United States Chase Elliott Chevrolet 55 15.151 126.645 2 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 37 15.191 0.040 0.040 126.312 3 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 62 15.193 0.042 0.002 126.295 4 20 Erik Jones Toyota 55 15.206 0.055 0.013 126.187 5 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 30 15.211 0.060 0.005 126.146 6 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 53 15.215 0.064 0.004 126.112 7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 52 15.236 0.085 0.021 125.939 8 41 Kurt Busch Ford 49 15.239 0.088 0.003 125.914 9 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 53 15.243 0.092 0.004 125.881 10 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 45 15.246 0.095 0.003 125.856 11 31 United States Ryan Newman Chevrolet 33 15.259 0.108 0.013 125.749 12 19 Mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 35 15.282 0.131 0.023 125.559 13 24 William Byron Chevrolet 23 15.302 0.151 0.020 125.395 14 10 Aric Almirola Ford 50 15.306 0.155 0.004 125.363 15 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 36 15.314 0.163 0.008 125.297 16 21 United States Paul Menard Ford 42 15.322 0.171 0.008 125.232 17 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 46 15.322 0.171 0.000 125.232 18 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 59 15.332 0.181 0.010 125.150 19 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 41 15.338 0.187 0.006 125.101 20 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 38 15.342 0.191 0.004 125.068 21 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 59 15.349 0.198 0.007 125.011 22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 18 15.360 0.209 0.011 124.922 23 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 54 15.373 0.222 0.013 124.816 24 38 David Ragan Ford 35 15.379 0.228 0.006 124.768 25 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 61 15.391 0.240 0.012 124.670 26 95 United States Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 58 15.395 0.244 0.004 124.638 27 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 52 15.401 0.250 0.006 124.589 28 34 Michael McDowell Ford 26 15.455 0.304 0.054 124.154 29 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 51 15.469 0.318 0.014 124.042 30 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 21 15.500 0.349 0.031 123.794 31 52 United States B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 3 15.522 0.371 0.022 123.618 32 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 55 15.581 0.430 0.059 123.150 33 23 Jones Blake Toyota 48 15.590 0.439 0.009 123.079 34 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 27 15.656 0.505 0.066 122.560 35 72 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 32 15.676 0.525 0.020 122.404 36 96 Jesse Little Toyota 72 15.697 0.546 0.021 122.240 37 00 United States Landon Cassill Chevrolet 36 15.729 0.578 0.032 121.991 38 99 Gray Gaulding Chevrolet 21 15.848 0.697 0.119 121.075 39 7 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 30 15.925 0.774 0.077 120.490 40 66 Timmy Hill Toyota 11 15.985 0.834 0.060 120.038 41 51 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 21 16.011 0.860 0.026 119.843

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