Practice report
NASCAR Cup Bristol
Ryan Blaney leads NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol
Reigning NASCAR Cup champion Ryan Blaney led the way in Saturday’s practice at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Jim Utter
Published: Mar 16, 2024, 10:08 PM
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Sunday’s race will be the first in the spring on the asphalt surface at Bristol since 2020. The spring race has been run on dirt the past three seasons, with Christopher Bell the most recent winner last year.
Blaney, who currently leads the series points standings, topped the speed chart with an average lap speed of 127.681 mph. The top three overall speeds were from the first 20-minute group, with Blaney followed by Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace.
Harrison Burton led the way in Group B with an average lap speed of 125.215 mph.
Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Blaney had the best average speed (125.713 mph) followed by Ross Chastain and Wallace.
Group B
Burton was the surprise leader in the Group B session with an average lap speed of 125.215 mph.
Chase Elliott was second fastest (124.654 mph) and Kyle Larson was third (124.654 mph).
Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five.
In the opening minutes of the session, Ty Gibbs shot up the track in Turn 2 and hit the wall, bringing out a brief caution. The team made repairs to his No. 54 Toyota and he was able to return to the track before the conclusion of practice.
Group A
Blaney got off to a quick start in practice and went right to top of the speed chart with an average lap speed of 127.681 mph.
Busch was second quick at 126.988 mph while Wallace ended up third (126.921 mph).
Chastain ended up fourth and Blaney’s Penske teammate, Joey Logano, rounded out the top five.
CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH 1 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 36
15.028
127.682 2 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 37
+0.082
15.110
0.082 126.989 3 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 56
+0.090
15.118
0.008 126.922 4 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 51
+0.092
15.120
0.002 126.905 5 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 40
+0.097
15.125
0.005 126.863 6 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 36
+0.133
15.161
0.036 126.562 7 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 29
+0.178
15.206
0.045 126.187 8 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 48
+0.207
15.235
0.029 125.947 9 A. AllmendingerKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 38
+0.236
15.264
0.029 125.708 10 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 42
+0.279
15.307
0.043 125.354 11 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 16
+0.290
15.318
0.011 125.264 12 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 41
+0.295
15.323
0.005 125.224 13 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 31
+0.296
15.324
0.001 125.215 14 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 32
+0.305
15.333
0.009 125.142 15 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 45
+0.352
15.380
0.047 124.759 16 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 29
+0.357
15.385
0.005 124.719 17 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 34
+0.365
15.393
0.008 124.654 18 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 31
+0.385
15.413
0.020 124.492 19 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 32
+0.387
15.415
0.002 124.476 20
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
71 Chevrolet 37
+0.391
15.419
0.004 124.444 21 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 31
+0.460
15.488
0.069 123.889 22 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 34
+0.503
15.531
0.043 123.546 23 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 34
+0.506
15.534
0.003 123.523 24 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 37
+0.516
15.544
0.010 123.443 25 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 30
+0.573
15.601
0.057 122.992 26 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 36
+0.592
15.620
0.019 122.843 27 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 25
+0.599
15.627
0.007 122.787 28 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 28
+0.604
15.632
0.005 122.748 29 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 34
+0.613
15.641
0.009 122.678 30 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 31
+0.629
15.657
0.016 122.552 31
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
77 Chevrolet 24
+0.728
15.756
0.099 121.782 32 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 34
+0.746
15.774
0.018 121.643 33 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 23
+0.786
15.814
0.040 121.336 34
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
54 Toyota 14
+0.859
15.887
0.073 120.778 35 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 40
+0.908
15.936
0.049 120.407 36 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 33
+1.239
16.267
0.331 117.957
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