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Practice report

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

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 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 10 25.403     141.716
2 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 8 25.590 0.187 0.187 140.680
3 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 10 25.640 0.237 0.050 140.406
4 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 8 25.647 0.244 0.007 140.367
5 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota 8 25.654 0.251 0.007 140.329
6 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 8 25.678 0.275 0.024 140.198
7 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 17 25.718 0.315 0.040 139.980
8 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 10 25.722 0.319 0.004 139.958
9 19 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 11 25.733 0.330 0.011 139.898
10 95 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Toyota 8 25.751 0.348 0.018 139.800
11 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 13 25.753 0.350 0.002 139.790
12 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 11 25.766 0.363 0.013 139.719
13 6 United States Ryan Newman  Ford 11 25.785 0.382 0.019 139.616
14 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 20 25.785 0.382 0.000 139.616
15 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford 8 25.798 0.395 0.013 139.546
16 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Ford 8 25.807 0.404 0.009 139.497
17 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 12 25.820 0.417 0.013 139.427
18 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 8 25.821 0.418 0.001 139.421
19 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 8 25.824 0.421 0.003 139.405
20 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 11 25.830 0.427 0.006 139.373
21 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 11 25.844 0.441 0.014 139.297
22 1 United States Kurt Busch  Chevrolet 10 25.849 0.446 0.005 139.270
23 8 United States Daniel Hemric  Chevrolet 12 25.878 0.475 0.029 139.114
24 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 7 25.923 0.520 0.045 138.873
25 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford 13 25.982 0.579 0.059 138.557
26 47 United States Ryan Preece  Chevrolet 15 26.001 0.598 0.019 138.456
27 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 16 26.129 0.726 0.128 137.778
28 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 15 26.133 0.730 0.004 137.757
29 36 United States Matt Tifft  Ford 19 26.147 0.744 0.014 137.683
30 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 11 26.195 0.792 0.048 137.431
31 32 United States Corey Lajoie  Ford 13 26.335 0.932 0.140 136.700
32 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 9 26.560 1.157 0.225 135.542
33 15 United States 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 United States Quin Houff  Chevrolet 15 28.423 3.020 0.509 126.658

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