Denny Hamlin leads first NASCAR Cup practice at Bristol

“I was loose in then banging the splitter pretty bad,” Hamlin said after completing 43 laps “It’s loose in at the two-thirds mark by a mile.” Hamlin posted 56 circuits during the 85-minute session

Kyle Busch was second-quick followed by Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Jimmie Johnson. Johnson’s 82 laps were the most posted during first practice.

Jamie McMurray led the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average category with a speed of 126.604mph, followed by Hamlin (126.469mph), Daniel Suarez, Kyle Larson, Johnson, Jones,  Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Dale Earnhardt Jr., rounded out the top 10 on 10-lap runs.

After the first 10 minutes, Hamlin shot to the top of the speed chart followed by Logano, Blaney, Ty Dillon, Landon Cassill, Corey LaJoie, Kenseth, Matt DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher.

“Slow,” Hamlin said after completing eight laps.

Jones moved up to the top of the board with a lap of 128.142mph after six laps. Johnson was third (127.997mph) after four laps. Stenhouse, Elliott, Kahne Blaney, Chris Buescher, Suarez and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 10 at the 15-minute mark.

Kyle Busch laid down the fastest lap (128.485mph), 17 minutes in the session. His Toyota teammates Jones and Hamlin remained second and third, respectively.

“Overall grip is pretty good, a little loose in, a little tight middle,” said McMurray after breaking into the top 10 with a lap of 127.792mph after 12 laps. “We need to work on the entry to start with. I’m a little bit guarded which hurts the middle.

Twenty-minutes in, Blaney bumped Kyle Busch to second with a lap of 128.917mph. Hamlin, Jones and Stenhouse rounded out the top-five single lap speeds. Matt Kenseth vaulted up to third with a top speed of 128.356mph after his 11-lap run — just before the 25-minute mark.

Kahne climbed to the top spot with a lap of 128.943mph, twenty-five minutes in. He was passed by Kyle Busch (129.221mph). Two minutes later, Larson triggered the red flag after spinning off of Turn 4. He had just completed 11 laps and was 21st on the speed chart.

The track returned to green just before the 30-minute mark. Busch remained atop the speed chart followed by Kahne, Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Kenseth, Jones, Stenhouse, Johnson and Elliott.

A couple minutes later, Hamlin jumped to P1 with a speed of 129.230mph. He held the top spot until caution came out for rain just before 50-minutes in. Kyle Busch was second followed by Kahne, Blaney, Bowyer, Kenseth, Truex, Jones, Stenhouse and Johnson.

NASCAR resumed practice 55-minutes in. Forty-one cars posted speeds. After the first hour, Johnson’s 45 laps were the most completed. His top speed was 127.997mph.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	56	14.848			129.230
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	44	14.849	0.001	0.001	129.221
3	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	29	14.881	0.033	0.032	128.943
4	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	68	14.884	0.036	0.003	128.917
5	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	46	14.946	0.098	0.062	128.382
6	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	44	14.949	0.101	0.003	128.356
7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	46	14.954	0.106	0.005	128.313
8	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	55	14.970	0.122	0.016	128.176
9	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	71	14.990	0.142	0.020	128.005
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	82	14.991	0.143	0.001	127.997
11	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	55	14.995	0.147	0.004	127.963
12	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	47	14.996	0.148	0.001	127.954
13	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	78	15.002	0.154	0.006	127.903
14	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	65	15.010	0.162	0.008	127.835
15	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	46	15.026	0.178	0.016	127.699
16	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	61	15.034	0.186	0.008	127.631
17	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	46	15.050	0.202	0.016	127.495
18	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	42	15.050	0.202	0.000	127.495
19	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	36	15.055	0.207	0.005	127.453
20	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	57	15.060	0.212	0.005	127.410
21	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	78	15.066	0.218	0.006	127.360
22	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	33	15.075	0.227	0.009	127.284
23	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	48	15.084	0.236	0.009	127.208
24	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	31	15.102	0.254	0.018	127.056
25	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	43	15.124	0.276	0.022	126.871
26	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	51	15.126	0.278	0.002	126.854
27	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	65	15.145	0.297	0.019	126.695
28	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	56	15.165	0.317	0.020	126.528
29	38	David Ragan	Ford	64	15.170	0.322	0.005	126.486
30	22	Joey Logano	Ford	54	15.181	0.333	0.011	126.395
31	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	47	15.220	0.372	0.039	126.071
32	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	52	15.344	0.496	0.124	125.052
33	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	3	15.353	0.505	0.009	124.979
34	83	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	30	15.386	0.538	0.033	124.711
35	55	Gray Gaulding	Chevrolet	17	15.429	0.581	0.043	124.363
36	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	33	15.435	0.587	0.006	124.315
37	23	Joey Gase	Toyota	56	15.458	0.610	0.023	124.130
38	7	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	38	15.475	0.627	0.017	123.994
39	66	Timmy Hill	Chevrolet	32	15.500	0.652	0.025	123.794
40	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	35	15.545	0.697	0.045	123.435
41	15	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	14	16.172	1.324	0.627	118.650