Erik Jones fastest in Saturday's abbreviated first Cup practice
Michigan native Erik Jones led the way in Saturday morning’s abbreviated practice session at Michigan International Speedway.
Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry DeWalt
Rusty Jarrett / NKP / Motorsport Images
Heavy fog Saturday morning delayed the start of the originally scheduled 55-minute session and even with NASCAR adding five minutes, teams only got about 15 minutes on the track.
Jones’ average lap speed at 200.150 mph remained at the top of the leaderboard the entire session. Rookie William Byron was second (199.678 mph) and Brad Keselowski third (199.358 mph). Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano completed the top-five.
“The track overall has aged pretty well over the last couple of years where it’s not so line sensitive and you don’t see anybody running up in the third groove by any means, but it’s definitely not to the point where if you get up there, you’re probably not going to wreck,” Jones said.
“It will be interesting to see as the weekend goes on especially after the Truck race with what these guys can do.”
Rounding out the Top 10 were Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Paul Menard, pole winner Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.
Five teams took advantage of the brief session to serve their 15-minute practice penalties.
Martin Truex Jr. was late to pre-race inspection at Watkins Glen; Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman all failed to come to a complete stop after blowing the inner loop in practice at The Glen; and Darrell Wallace Jr. and B.J. McLeod were late to inspection Friday at Michigan.
Cla | # | Driver | 4506 | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 10 | 35.973 | 200.150 | ||
2 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 10 | 36.058 | 0.085 | 0.085 | 199.678 |
3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 11 | 36.116 | 0.143 | 0.058 | 199.358 |
4 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 10 | 36.137 | 0.164 | 0.021 | 199.242 |
5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 10 | 36.181 | 0.208 | 0.044 | 198.999 |
6 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 11 | 36.186 | 0.213 | 0.005 | 198.972 |
7 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 10 | 36.197 | 0.224 | 0.011 | 198.912 |
8 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 11 | 36.197 | 0.224 | 0.000 | 198.912 |
9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 11 | 36.210 | 0.237 | 0.013 | 198.840 |
10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 10 | 36.221 | 0.248 | 0.011 | 198.780 |
11 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 10 | 36.278 | 0.305 | 0.057 | 198.467 |
12 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 14 | 36.296 | 0.323 | 0.018 | 198.369 |
13 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 6 | 36.303 | 0.330 | 0.007 | 198.331 |
14 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 17 | 36.375 | 0.402 | 0.072 | 197.938 |
15 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 9 | 36.406 | 0.433 | 0.031 | 197.770 |
16 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 11 | 36.410 | 0.437 | 0.004 | 197.748 |
17 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 16 | 36.420 | 0.447 | 0.010 | 197.694 |
18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 11 | 36.443 | 0.470 | 0.023 | 197.569 |
19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 6 | 36.591 | 0.618 | 0.148 | 196.770 |
20 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 12 | 36.682 | 0.709 | 0.091 | 196.282 |
21 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 6 | 36.721 | 0.748 | 0.039 | 196.073 |
22 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 6 | 36.815 | 0.842 | 0.094 | 195.572 |
23 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 6 | 36.901 | 0.928 | 0.086 | 195.117 |
24 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 7 | 36.997 | 1.024 | 0.096 | 194.610 |
25 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 6 | 37.021 | 1.048 | 0.024 | 194.484 |
26 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 10 | 37.228 | 1.255 | 0.207 | 193.403 |
27 | 72 | Corey Lajoie | Chevrolet | 7 | 37.317 | 1.344 | 0.089 | 192.942 |
28 | 96 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Toyota | 11 | 37.493 | 1.520 | 0.176 | 192.036 |
29 | 99 | Gray Gaulding | Chevrolet | 5 | 38.060 | 2.087 | 0.567 | 189.175 |
30 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 6 | 38.229 | 2.256 | 0.169 | 188.339 |
31 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 4 | 38.846 | 2.873 | 0.617 | 185.347 |
32 | 23 | Jones Blake | Toyota | 15 | 38.854 | 2.881 | 0.008 | 185.309 |
33 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | |||||
34 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | |||||
35 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | |||||
36 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | |||||
37 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | |||||
38 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford |
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