Team Penske leads the way in NASCAR Cup practice at Phoenix
Team Penske continued its strong start to the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season by topping Friday’s practice at Phoenix.
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, Ford Mustang
Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
Penske’s Ryan Blaney topped the speed chart at ISM Raceway with an average lap speed of 141.716 mph – a speed that was markedly faster with the new aero package over the top speed in the first practice at this race last year (138.281 mph).
Blaney’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, ended up second-fastest (140.680 mph) and Kyle Larson was third (140.406 mph). Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, Erik Jones, Martin Truex Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto.
Nine-time Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick – who won this race a year ago – was 15th.
Compared to recent weeks, the aero package at Phoenix features higher horsepower and higher downforce.
Keselowski and Penske driver Joey Logano have won two of the season’s first three races (Atlanta and Las Vegas).
There were no on-track incidents in the session.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 10 | 25.403 | 141.716 | ||
2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 8 | 25.590 | 0.187 | 0.187 | 140.680 |
3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 10 | 25.640 | 0.237 | 0.050 | 140.406 |
4 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 8 | 25.647 | 0.244 | 0.007 | 140.367 |
5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 8 | 25.654 | 0.251 | 0.007 | 140.329 |
6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 8 | 25.678 | 0.275 | 0.024 | 140.198 |
7 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 17 | 25.718 | 0.315 | 0.040 | 139.980 |
8 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 10 | 25.722 | 0.319 | 0.004 | 139.958 |
9 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 11 | 25.733 | 0.330 | 0.011 | 139.898 |
10 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 8 | 25.751 | 0.348 | 0.018 | 139.800 |
11 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 13 | 25.753 | 0.350 | 0.002 | 139.790 |
12 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 11 | 25.766 | 0.363 | 0.013 | 139.719 |
13 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 11 | 25.785 | 0.382 | 0.019 | 139.616 |
14 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 20 | 25.785 | 0.382 | 0.000 | 139.616 |
15 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 8 | 25.798 | 0.395 | 0.013 | 139.546 |
16 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 8 | 25.807 | 0.404 | 0.009 | 139.497 |
17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 12 | 25.820 | 0.417 | 0.013 | 139.427 |
18 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 8 | 25.821 | 0.418 | 0.001 | 139.421 |
19 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 8 | 25.824 | 0.421 | 0.003 | 139.405 |
20 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 11 | 25.830 | 0.427 | 0.006 | 139.373 |
21 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 11 | 25.844 | 0.441 | 0.014 | 139.297 |
22 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 10 | 25.849 | 0.446 | 0.005 | 139.270 |
23 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 12 | 25.878 | 0.475 | 0.029 | 139.114 |
24 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 7 | 25.923 | 0.520 | 0.045 | 138.873 |
25 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 13 | 25.982 | 0.579 | 0.059 | 138.557 |
26 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 15 | 26.001 | 0.598 | 0.019 | 138.456 |
27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 16 | 26.129 | 0.726 | 0.128 | 137.778 |
28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 15 | 26.133 | 0.730 | 0.004 | 137.757 |
29 | 36 | Matt Tifft | Ford | 19 | 26.147 | 0.744 | 0.014 | 137.683 |
30 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 11 | 26.195 | 0.792 | 0.048 | 137.431 |
31 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 13 | 26.335 | 0.932 | 0.140 | 136.700 |
32 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 9 | 26.560 | 1.157 | 0.225 | 135.542 |
33 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 11 | 27.048 | 1.645 | 0.488 | 133.097 |
34 | 52 | Bayley Currey | Ford | 14 | 27.910 | 2.507 | 0.862 | 128.986 |
35 | 51 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 9 | 27.914 | 2.511 | 0.004 | 128.968 |
36 | 77 | Quin Houff | Chevrolet | 15 | 28.423 | 3.020 | 0.509 | 126.658 |
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