Hendrick drivers lead Cup practice at Nashville

Teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson actually posted the same best average lap speed during Saturday’s 50-minute practice session at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (161.081 mph).

Fellow Hendrick driver Chase Elliott ended up third (161.022 mph), while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (159.600 mph) and Tyler Reddick (159.568 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Counting last weekend’s non-points All-Star Race, HMS drivers have won the past five races in the Cup series, with Larson leading the way during the stretch with three.

NASCAR is making its first return to this track in 10 years but the Cup series has never conducted a race on the 1.33-mile concrete oval.

Completing the top-10 in single-car speeds were Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and HMS driver Alex Bowman.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Larson had the best average speed (157.488 mph). He was followed by Chastain and Kevin Harvick in that category.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	29	29.724			161.082
2	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	37	29.724	0.000	0.000	161.082
3	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	39	29.735	0.011	0.011	161.022
4	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Chevrolet	36	30.000	0.276	0.265	159.600
5	8	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet	36	30.006	0.282	0.006	159.568
6	1	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	24	30.033	0.309	0.027	159.425
7	42	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	34	30.035	0.311	0.002	159.414
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	33	30.037	0.313	0.002	159.403
9	6	Ryan Newman	Ford	24	30.066	0.342	0.029	159.250
10	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	27	30.102	0.378	0.036	159.059
11	14	Chase Briscoe	Ford	19	30.105	0.381	0.003	159.043
12	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	37	30.232	0.508	0.127	158.375
13	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	39	30.276	0.552	0.044	158.145
14	43	Erik Jones	Chevrolet	15	30.301	0.577	0.025	158.015
15	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	33	30.325	0.601	0.024	157.890
16	17	Chris Buescher	Ford	34	30.401	0.677	0.076	157.495
17	22	Joey Logano	Ford	37	30.421	0.697	0.020	157.391
18	37	Ryan Preece	Chevrolet	25	30.447	0.723	0.026	157.257
19	7	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	32	30.448	0.724	0.001	157.252
20	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	27	30.459	0.735	0.011	157.195
21	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	37	30.463	0.739	0.004	157.174
22	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	41	30.486	0.762	0.023	157.056
23	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	35	30.486	0.762	0.000	157.056
24	99	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	37	30.502	0.778	0.016	156.973
25	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	37	30.513	0.789	0.011	156.917
26	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	20	30.569	0.845	0.056	156.629
27	38	Anthony Alfredo	Ford	37	30.610	0.886	0.041	156.419
28	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	31	30.624	0.900	0.014	156.348
29	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	35	30.624	0.900	0.000	156.348
30	41	Cole Custer	Ford	26	30.628	0.904	0.004	156.328
31	51	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	22	30.858	1.134	0.230	155.162
32	53	Garrett Smithley	Chevrolet	17	31.127	1.403	0.269	153.821
33	77	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	32	31.151	1.427	0.024	153.703
34	78	B.J. McLeod	Ford	16	31.538	1.814	0.387	151.817
35	52	Josh Bilicki	Ford	16	31.545	1.821	0.007	151.783
36	00	Quin Houff	Chevrolet	26	31.670	1.946	0.125	151.184
37	66	Chad Finchum	Toyota	13	31.731	2.007	0.061	150.893
38	13	David Starr	Toyota	18	32.165	2.441	0.434	148.857
39	15	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	24	32.174	2.450	0.009	148.816