Matt DiBenedetto tops final Cup practice at Bristol
Matt DiBenedetto led the way in final practice at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Leavine Family Racing Toyota Camry.
Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
DiBenedetto, who learned this week he will be out at Leavine Family Racing at the conclusion of the 2019 season, led the way in final practice at 128.848mph.
Ryan Blaney was second on the speed charts but the session did not end the way he would have wanted. While lapping, he suffered a power steering failure and dropped fluid around the track.
"Just blew the power steering pump, blew the guts out of it," he told NBCSN. "Happened right in the middle of (Turns) 3 and 4 when you're fully turned left ... it was an instant kind of snap. Not sure what it did to my shoulder but I just needed a second.
"That stinks but at least we didn't hit the wall or nothing."
Blaney also topped the five lap, ten lap and 15 consecutive lap averages.
NASCAR decided to add an extra 12 minutes to the session following the track cleanup.
Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 88 | 14.892 | 128.848 | |||
2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 53 | 14.962 | 0.070 | 0.070 | 128.245 | |
3 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 69 | 14.964 | 0.072 | 0.002 | 128.228 | |
4 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 83 | 14.965 | 0.073 | 0.001 | 128.219 | |
5 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 53 | 14.971 | 0.079 | 0.006 | 128.168 | |
6 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 68 | 14.991 | 0.099 | 0.020 | 127.997 | |
7 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 48 | 15.009 | 0.117 | 0.018 | 127.843 | |
8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 71 | 15.036 | 0.144 | 0.027 | 127.614 | |
9 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 79 | 15.047 | 0.155 | 0.011 | 127.520 | |
10 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 83 | 15.048 | 0.156 | 0.001 | 127.512 | |
11 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 53 | 15.098 | 0.206 | 0.050 | 127.090 | |
12 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 68 | 15.162 | 0.270 | 0.064 | 126.553 | |
13 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 116 | 15.165 | 0.273 | 0.003 | 126.528 | |
14 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 77 | 15.176 | 0.284 | 0.011 | 126.436 | |
15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 92 | 15.195 | 0.303 | 0.019 | 126.278 | |
16 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 59 | 15.198 | 0.306 | 0.003 | 126.253 | |
17 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 84 | 15.198 | 0.306 | 0.0 | 126.253 | |
18 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 99 | 15.201 | 0.309 | 0.003 | 126.229 | |
19 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 65 | 15.204 | 0.312 | 0.003 | 126.204 | |
20 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 85 | 15.230 | 0.338 | 0.026 | 125.988 | |
21 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 76 | 15.254 | 0.362 | 0.024 | 125.790 | |
22 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 84 | 15.257 | 0.365 | 0.003 | 125.765 | |
23 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 34 | 15.257 | 0.365 | 0.0 | 125.765 | |
24 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 60 | 15.284 | 0.392 | 0.027 | 125.543 | |
25 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 105 | 15.291 | 0.399 | 0.007 | 125.486 | |
26 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 72 | 15.297 | 0.405 | 0.006 | 125.436 | |
27 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 62 | 15.30 | 0.408 | 0.003 | 125.412 | |
28 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 92 | 15.326 | 0.434 | 0.026 | 125.199 | |
29 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 55 | 15.336 | 0.444 | 0.010 | 125.117 | |
30 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 85 | 15.376 | 0.484 | 0.040 | 124.792 | |
31 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 19 | 15.474 | 0.582 | 0.098 | 124.002 | |
32 | 53 | Josh Bilicki | Chevrolet | 9 | 15.639 | 0.747 | 0.165 | 122.693 | |
33 | 36 | Chase Briscoe | Ford | 50 | 15.649 | 0.757 | 0.010 | 122.615 | |
34 | 54 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 18 | 15.656 | 0.764 | 0.007 | 122.560 | |
35 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 57 | 15.682 | 0.790 | 0.026 | 122.357 | |
36 | 52 | Kyle Weatherman | Chevrolet | 51 | 15.881 | 0.989 | 0.199 | 120.824 | |
37 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 36 | 16.0 | 1.108 | 0.119 | 119.925 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments