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Practice report
NASCAR Cup Phoenix

Kyle Larson fastest in NASCAR Cup practice at Phoenix

Kyle Larson set the pace early and ended up with the fastest average lap speed in Friday’s NASCAR Cup practice session at Phoenix Raceway.

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro

Larson, among the first cars on the track in the 50-minute session, led the way at 131.257 mph.

Friday’s practice session was the first since NASCAR announced new aero rules this season for road courses and a majority of tracks measuring 1.058-mile or less in distance, including Phoenix.

The package, which was tested in the offseason at Phoenix, consists of a 2-inch spoiler and the removal of three diffuser strakes and engine panel strakes. The changes were expected to lead to a 30-percent reduction in downforce.

Ryan Blaney ended up second-fastest (131.104 mph) and Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, was third (130.723 mph).

Joey Logano, who won the 2022 series championship at this track last fall, was fourth and Chase Briscoe – who won the spring Phoenix race a year ago – rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Harrison Burton, Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola.

The Toyota camp appeared to struggle in the session. Bubba Wallace, driving the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, posted the fastest lap among the Toyotas, coming in at 16th.

Josh Berry, in his second weekend substituting for the injured Chase Elliott, ended up 23rd fastest.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Larson led the way with an average lap speed of 129.311 mph. Blaney and Logano were second and third, consecutively, in that category.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Mph
1 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 59 27.427   131.258
2 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 48 27.459 0.032 131.105
3 48 United States Alex Bowman Chevrolet 55 27.539 0.112 130.724
4 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 44 27.568 0.141 130.586
5 14 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 47 27.635 0.208 130.270
6 6 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 55 27.645 0.218 130.222
7 47 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 57 27.655 0.228 130.175
8 21 United States Harrison Burton Ford 57 27.661 0.234 130.147
9 4 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 59 27.684 0.257 130.039
10 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 52 27.701 0.274 129.959
11 16 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 49 27.740 0.313 129.776
12 17 United States Chris Buescher Ford 51 27.741 0.314 129.772
13 99 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 57 27.742 0.315 129.767
14 7 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 42 27.753 0.326 129.716
15 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 39 27.797 0.370 129.510
16 23 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 51 27.818 0.391 129.413
17 19 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 48 27.827 0.400 129.371
18 2 United States Austin Cindric Ford 33 27.836 0.409 129.329
19 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 44 27.836 0.409 129.329
20 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 42 27.855 0.428 129.241
21 38 Zane Smith Ford 31 27.884 0.457 129.106
22 45 United States Tyler Reddick Toyota 53 27.889 0.462 129.083
23 9 Josh Berry Chevrolet 48 27.910 0.483 128.986
24 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 52 27.912 0.485 128.977
25 42 United States Noah Gragson Chevrolet 37 28.037 0.610 128.402
26 1 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 45 28.056 0.629 128.315
27 43 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 42 28.101 0.674 128.109
28 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 47 28.109 0.682 128.073
29 8 United States Kyle Busch Chevrolet 37 28.141 0.714 127.927
30 34 United States Michael McDowell Ford 47 28.211 0.784 127.610
31 15 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 42 28.410 0.983 126.716
32 41 United States Ryan Preece Ford 30 28.436 1.009 126.600
33 31 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 35 28.480 1.053 126.404
34 77 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 38 28.528 1.101 126.192
35 51 United States Cody Ware Ford 44 28.551 1.124 126.090
36 78 United States B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 18 28.603 1.176 125.861

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