Menard leads final Indy Cup practice; Hamlin in fiery wreck

Just as the final 50-minute practice session came to a close at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon, Menard posted an average lap speed of 185.079 mph to jump to the top of the speed chart.

Moments later, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota hit the wall in Turn 4 on his cool-down lap and flames immediately began pouring out the back of his car. 

It soon came to a rest on the frontstretch, engulfed in fire and smoke and Hamlin quickly exited the car. He was not hurt.

“It was big for sure. It was the last corner and I think the red flag had been out for a minute or so." said Hamlin. "We had just got into turn one when the red went out and we were going to finish our lap. It just blew a right-front. We hadn’t seen any wear issues so we might have run something over or whatever. Definitely got my attention.”

Hamlin’s team will have to go to a backup car, which means he will have to start Sunday’s Brickyard 400 from the rear of the field.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended up second-fastest (184.151 mph) and Erik Jones – who won last weekend’s race at Darlington, S.C. – was third (183.550 mph). Chris Buescher and Matt DiBenedetto completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 speeds were Daniel Hemric, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano.

Kurt Busch ended up with the fastest average lap speed among those drivers who completed at least 10 consecutive laps (181.327 mph). Brad Keselowski and William Byron were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	21	Paul Menard		Ford	16	48.628			185.079
2	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	15	48.873	0.245	0.245	184.151
3	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	22	49.033	0.405	0.160	183.550
4	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	14	49.077	0.449	0.044	183.385
5	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	18	49.167	0.539	0.090	183.050
6	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	21	49.277	0.649	0.110	182.641
7	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	29	49.294	0.666	0.017	182.578
8	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	15	49.309	0.681	0.015	182.522
9	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	30	49.346	0.718	0.037	182.386
10	22	Joey Logano		Ford	34	49.354	0.726	0.008	182.356
11	38	David Ragan		Ford	17	49.365	0.737	0.011	182.315
12	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	33	49.366	0.738	0.001	182.312
13	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	30	49.449	0.821	0.083	182.006
14	96	Parker Kligerman		Toyota	17	49.468	0.840	0.019	181.936
15	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	23	49.570	0.942	0.102	181.561
16	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	30	49.590	0.962	0.020	181.488
17	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	35	49.595	0.967	0.005	181.470
18	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	22	49.609	0.981	0.014	181.419
19	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	25	49.611	0.983	0.002	181.411
20	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	28	49.641	1.013	0.030	181.302
21	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	25	49.646	1.018	0.005	181.283
22	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	15	49.660	1.032	0.014	181.232
23	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	22	49.667	1.039	0.007	181.207
24	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	19	49.684	1.056	0.017	181.145
25	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	32	49.715	1.087	0.031	181.032
26	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	31	49.750	1.122	0.035	180.905
27	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	32	49.783	1.155	0.033	180.785
28	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	19	49.940	1.312	0.157	180.216
29	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	21	50.081	1.453	0.141	179.709
30	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	25	50.188	1.560	0.107	179.326
31	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	9	50.20	1.572	0.012	179.283
32	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	13	50.313	1.685	0.113	178.880
33	51	B.J. McLeod		Ford	6	50.732	2.104	0.419	177.403
34	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	14	51.364	2.736	0.632	175.220
35	54	J.J. Yeley		Chevrolet	2	51.746	3.118	0.382	173.926
36	52	Garrett Smithley		Ford	5	51.826	3.198	0.080	173.658
37	27	Ryan Sieg		Chevrolet	13	52.118	3.490	0.292	172.685
38	53	Josh Bilicki		Ford	5	52.207	3.579	0.089	172.391