Practice report
NASCAR Cup Talladega II
Kevin Harvick leads Talladega practice with 204mph lap
Kevin Harvick, who won the pole for the spring NASCAR Cup race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, was fastest in Saturday’s lone practice session.
Jim Utter
Published: Oct 13, 2018, 4:30 PM
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While drafting midway through the session, Harvick posted an average lap speed of 204.227 mph to lead the all drivers.
Qualifying will take place Saturday afternoon following the Camping World Truck Series race.
Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Aric Almirola was second-fastest (203.957 mph) and Joey Logano was third (202.478 mph). Clint Bowyer was fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top-five.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones.
Logano won the spring Talladega event.
About 20 minutes into the session, a caution was displayed for a piece of debris on the track. NASCAR officials asked that it be collected and taken back to the Cup series hauler for inspection. It appeared to come off the No. 17 Ford of Stenhouse.
About 30 minutes into the session, the No. 00 of Joey Gase came to a stop on the track in the bottom of Turns 3 and 4. He appeared to have a left-rear flat. Practice resumed soon afterwards.
Darrell Wallace Jr. had to sit out the final 30 minutes of Saturday’s practice for failing pre-race inspection last weekend at Dover three times.
Eight drivers had to sit out the final 15 minutes of practice Saturday – Keselowski, D.J. Kennington and Landon Cassill for their respective spotters missing the mandatory spotters meeting; Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and David Ragan for being late to pre-race inspection last week; and Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for failing pre-race inspection twice last weekend at Dover.
Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 4 
Kevin Harvick Ford 23 46.889 204.227 2 10 
Aric Almirola Ford 30 46.951 0.062 0.062 203.957 3 22 
Joey Logano Ford 23 47.294 0.405 0.343 202.478 4 14 
Clint Bowyer Ford 26 47.305 0.416 0.011 202.431 5 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 23 47.315 0.426 0.010 202.388 6 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 23 47.323 0.434 0.008 202.354 7 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 33 47.359 0.470 0.036 202.200 8 41 
Kurt Busch Ford 21 47.360 0.471 0.001 202.196 9 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 21 47.361 0.472 0.001 202.192 10 20 Erik Jones Toyota 22 47.387 0.498 0.026 202.081 11 21 
Paul Menard Ford 24 47.394 0.505 0.007 202.051 12 19 
Daniel Suarez Toyota 20 47.411 0.522 0.017 201.978 13 18 
Kyle Busch Toyota 22 47.415 0.526 0.004 201.961 14 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 8 47.418 0.529 0.003 201.949 15 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 22 47.419 0.530 0.001 201.944 16 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 23 47.446 0.557 0.027 201.829 17 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 28 47.458 0.569 0.012 201.778 18 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 26 47.535 0.646 0.077 201.452 19 62 
Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 13 47.633 0.744 0.098 201.037 20 48 
Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 34 47.728 0.839 0.095 200.637 21 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 22 47.743 0.854 0.015 200.574 22 24 William Byron Chevrolet 32 47.747 0.858 0.004 200.557 23 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 48 47.789 0.900 0.042 200.381 24 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 32 47.809 0.920 0.020 200.297 25 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 25 47.894 1.005 0.085 199.942 26 95 Regan Smith Chevrolet 18 48.621 1.732 0.727 196.952 27 34 Michael McDowell Ford 32 48.691 1.802 0.070 196.669 28 00 Joey Gase Chevrolet 12 49.506 2.617 0.815 193.431 29 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 25 49.564 2.675 0.058 193.205 30 38 David Ragan Ford 14 49.582 2.693 0.018 193.135 31 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 23 49.990 3.101 0.408 191.558 32 72 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 17 50.089 3.200 0.099 191.180 33 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 6 50.271 3.382 0.182 190.488 34 7 
D.J. Kennington Chevrolet 8 50.380 3.491 0.109 190.075 35 23 J.J. Yeley Ford 7 50.391 3.502 0.011 190.034 36 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 6 50.425 3.536 0.034 189.906 37 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 22 50.739 3.850 0.314 188.731 38 96 Jeffrey Earnhardt Toyota 11 50.902 4.013 0.163 188.126 39 51 Cody Ware Ford 15 51.159 4.270 0.257 187.181 40 99 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 8 51.232 4.343 0.073 186.914 41 97 David Starr Toyota 8 51.454 4.565 0.222 186.108
Take a virtual lap around Talladega Superspeedway with the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Brad Keselowski, courtesy of NASCAR Heat 3.
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