Practice report
NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
Surprise tire issues wreak havoc during only NASCAR Cup practice in Phoenix
Four red flags and at least six different drivers with tire failures plagued the hour-long practice session
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Nov 1, 2025, 12:02 AM
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A.J. Allmendinger crash, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Photo by: Christian Petersen / Getty Images
The lone practice session for the NASCAR Cup Series title-decider at Phoenix Raceway began with a flurry of tire issues.
It didn't take long for the drama to unfold. As Hamlin pulled out of line and slowed to avoid all the traffic, trouble found his title rival and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe.
The No. 19 slowed down the backstretch with a cut left-rear tire, dragging the underside of the car as he limped it back to the pits.
Watch: Problems for Briscoe! No. 19 has tire go down as practice begins at Phoenix
At the same time, A.J. Allmendinger stopped with a left-front tire failure. Both incidents happened within the first five minutes of practice.
The red flag was displayed, and once the session went back green, another JGR car slowed with a cut left-rear -- Christopher Bell.
Denny Hamlin kept running despite the issues impacting his teammates, only for another red flag for the stopped car of Daniel Suarez, also with a flat left-rear.
Hamlin went to the garage and the team began work underneath the car in reaction to the tire issues.
The fifth tire issue involved another Toyota, with the No. 35 23XI Racing of Riley Herbst. Unfortunately for him, he actually hit the outside wall as the left-rear went flat.
His issue didn't cause a stoppage as he drove it back to the pits, but teams were holding their breath as they tiptoed around the circuit.
The third red flag of the session was for Allmendinger, who went straight into the wall in a major crash entering Turn 3. He later claimed he suffered a flat right-front tire just before the accident.
While it's unclear if it was another problem, Chase Elliott also slowed with a potential tire issue and immediately went to the garage out of an abundance of caution. His Hendrick Motorsports teammate and Championship 4 driver Kyle Larson also touched the wall at the exit of Turn 4 while pushing, but it was nothing to be concerned about.
The fourth red flag was for the stopped car of Kyle Busch, who cut a left-rear as well. Earlier in the session, he also touched the wall.
Briscoe got back on track, but complained about a vibration and quickly returned to the garage. Suarez cut another left-rear tire near the end of the session, but the practice remained green as he drove it back.
What's going on?
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After the session, Briscoe spoke with FS1 about his day: "I guess it's a good thing that it's not just us. It's unfortunate that it's happening, but at least we're not on an island by ourselves. I'm share James [Small, crew chief], and everybody on our Bass Pro Shops Toyota will figure out what we can do to help manage that on Sunday. But yeah, definitely alarming.
"Wasn't a great practice for us because we really didn't get to run a lot because of the issues. We'll get to work on it and see what we can do. Fortunately, it is one of those weekends where it is an hour-long practice, and you can go change things. If this was one of the normal weekends we have, we'd be in a really tight box. I'm confident we'll be just fine, just have to figure out what's going on."
Fastest drivers on track
When the practice finally reached its conclusion, it was Ty Gibbs topping the speed charts over the Team Penske duo of Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric.
Hamlin was the fastest title contender in fifth overall, followed by William Byron in ninth, Larson in eleventh, and Briscoe in 16th.
Blaney led the way in best ten-lap and 20-lap averages, while Larson was the fastest of all drivers in 15-lap and 25-lap averages. Over the course of 30 laps, it was advantage Byron , before going back to Larson in 35-lap averages.
Larson also ran more laps than any other driver at 69 total laps.
NASCAR Cup full practice results
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph 1 T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota 60
27.300
131.868 2 R. BlaneyTeam Penske 12 Ford 60
+0.096
27.396
0.096 131.406 3 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford 64
+0.102
27.402
0.006 131.377 4 R. PreeceRFK Racing 60 Ford 45
+0.107
27.407
0.005 131.353 5 D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 65
+0.126
27.426
0.019 131.262 6 C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 55
+0.150
27.450
0.024 131.148 7 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 60
+0.152
27.452
0.002 131.138 8
J. BerryWood Brothers Racing
21 Ford 55
+0.159
27.459
0.007 131.105 9 W. ByronHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 64
+0.160
27.460
0.001 131.100 10 C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 47
+0.187
27.487
0.027 130.971 11 K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 69
+0.189
27.489
0.002 130.961 12 E. JonesLegacy Motor Club 43 Toyota 57
+0.191
27.491
0.002 130.952 13 T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 38
+0.201
27.501
0.010 130.904 14 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford 57
+0.215
27.515
0.014 130.838 15 C. HocevarSpire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet 43
+0.239
27.539
0.024 130.724 16 C. BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 24
+0.241
27.541
0.002 130.714 17 Z. SmithFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford 22
+0.261
27.561
0.020 130.619 18 B. Wallace23XI Racing 23 Toyota 64
+0.264
27.564
0.003 130.605 19 J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club 42 Toyota 56
+0.271
27.571
0.007 130.572 20 M. McDowellSpire Motorsports 71 Chevrolet 39
+0.277
27.577
0.006 130.544 21 A. DillonRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 44
+0.292
27.592
0.015 130.473 22 T. Reddick23XI Racing 45 Toyota 59
+0.308
27.608
0.016 130.397 23 K. BuschRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 43
+0.334
27.634
0.026 130.274 24 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 59
+0.349
27.649
0.015 130.204 25 R. Stenhouse JrHyak Motorsports 47 Chevrolet 60
+0.359
27.659
0.010 130.157 26 D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 50
+0.389
27.689
0.030 130.016 27 C. BuescherRFK Racing 17 Ford 60
+0.399
27.699
0.010 129.969 28 C. CusterHaas Factory Team 41 Ford 54
+0.407
27.707
0.008 129.931 29 R. Herbst23XI Racing 35 Toyota 17
+0.429
27.729
0.022 129.828 30 C. WareRick Ware Racing 51 Ford 33
+0.445
27.745
0.016 129.753 31 A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 16
+0.449
27.749
0.004 129.734 32 J. HaleySpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 43
+0.461
27.761
0.012 129.678 33 N. GragsonFront Row Motorsports 4 Ford 62
+0.475
27.775
0.014 129.613 34 T. DillonKaulig Racing 10 Chevrolet 30
+0.480
27.780
0.005 129.590 35 B. KeselowskiRFK Racing 6 Ford 44
+0.492
27.792
0.012 129.534 36 S. van GisbergenTrackHouse Racing 88 Chevrolet 57
+0.524
27.824
0.032 129.385 37 C. MearsGarage 66 66 Ford 28
+0.895
28.195
0.371 127.682 38 J. YeleyNY Racing Team 44 Chevrolet 40
+0.909
28.209
0.014 127.619
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