Hendrick teammates Byron and Elliott lead first Cup practice
Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott led the way in Friday’s first NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway.
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
William, who picked up some right-side damage early in the session, rebounded to post the fastest average lap speed at 134.594 mph late in the 50-minute session.
“You got to know where the wall’s at, you know. I nicked it a little bit,” Byron said. “The car is pretty good. We need a little more speed but I thought we were pretty good.”
Elliott ended up second (133.848 mph) and Brad Keselowski third (133.308 mph). Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five.
In addition to Byron, Corey LaJoie also got into the wall during one of his practice runs.
Rounding out the top-10 speeds were Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney.
“I always feel a little better going into Phoenix just because I have so many good memories there and good runs,” said Jones, who has two Truck Series wins at the track. “We’ve come close to winning in Xfinity and Cup and have been in contention.
“At all the places you’ve won, you have a little bit extra in your notebook of what it actually takes to win a race.”
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 28 | 26.747 | 134.595 | |||
2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 33 | 26.896 | 0.149 | 0.149 | 133.849 | |
3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 28 | 27.005 | 0.258 | 0.109 | 133.309 | |
4 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 18 | 27.020 | 0.273 | 0.015 | 133.235 | |
5 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 31 | 27.023 | 0.276 | 0.003 | 133.220 | |
6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 26 | 27.036 | 0.289 | 0.013 | 133.156 | |
7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 34 | 27.055 | 0.308 | 0.019 | 133.062 | |
8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 31 | 27.076 | 0.329 | 0.021 | 132.959 | |
9 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 24 | 27.115 | 0.368 | 0.039 | 132.768 | |
10 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 27 | 27.141 | 0.394 | 0.026 | 132.641 | |
11 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ford | 20 | 27.164 | 0.417 | 0.023 | 132.528 | |
12 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 24 | 27.166 | 0.419 | 0.002 | 132.519 | |
13 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Chevrolet | 36 | 27.175 | 0.428 | 0.009 | 132.475 | |
14 | 6 | Ross Chastain | Ford | 23 | 27.181 | 0.434 | 0.006 | 132.445 | |
15 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 32 | 27.194 | 0.447 | 0.013 | 132.382 | |
16 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 28 | 27.196 | 0.449 | 0.002 | 132.372 | |
17 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 26 | 27.215 | 0.468 | 0.019 | 132.280 | |
18 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 21 | 27.220 | 0.473 | 0.005 | 132.256 | |
19 | 37 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 20 | 27.239 | 0.492 | 0.019 | 132.163 | |
20 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 26 | 27.247 | 0.500 | 0.008 | 132.125 | |
21 | 95 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | 24 | 27.255 | 0.508 | 0.008 | 132.086 | |
22 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Chevrolet | 32 | 27.292 | 0.545 | 0.037 | 131.907 | |
23 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 24 | 27.298 | 0.551 | 0.006 | 131.878 | |
24 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 26 | 27.308 | 0.561 | 0.010 | 131.830 | |
25 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 29 | 27.336 | 0.589 | 0.028 | 131.694 | |
26 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek | Ford | 25 | 27.343 | 0.596 | 0.007 | 131.661 | |
27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 31 | 27.389 | 0.642 | 0.046 | 131.440 | |
28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 31 | 27.392 | 0.645 | 0.003 | 131.425 | |
29 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 7 | 27.477 | 0.730 | 0.085 | 131.019 | |
30 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 15 | 27.538 | 0.791 | 0.061 | 130.728 | |
31 | 96 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 18 | 27.731 | 0.984 | 0.193 | 129.819 | |
32 | 52 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 11 | 27.750 | 1.003 | 0.019 | 129.730 | |
33 | 15 | Brennan Poole | Chevrolet | 20 | 27.880 | 1.133 | 0.130 | 129.125 | |
34 | 00 | Quin Houff | Chevrolet | 13 | 28.317 | 1.570 | 0.437 | 127.132 | |
35 | 51 | Garrett Smithley | Chevrolet | 9 | 28.522 | 1.775 | 0.205 | 126.218 | |
36 | 53 | Joey Gase | Chevrolet | 14 | 28.529 | 1.782 | 0.007 | 126.187 | |
37 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 1 | 30.968 | 4.221 | 2.439 | 116.249 |
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