Austin Cindric tops Cup practice; Chase Elliott wrecks

Cindric had the overall fastest average lap speed (167.270 mph), which he set in the Group B session.

Cindric’s Penske teammate, Joey Logano, ended up second-fastest overall (166.517 mph) while Denny Hamlin was third (166.450 mph).

Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick – who were both in Group A – completed the top-five.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Logano had the top average speed (163.718 mph). Ryan Blaney and Reddick were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Group B

Cindric set the fastest average lap speed of this session (167.270 mph) in the opening minutes.

Logano was second (166.517 mph) and Hamlin third (166.450 mph). Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five.

About nine minutes into the session, Elliott wrecked hard in Turns 3 and Turn 4 and did significant damage to his No. 9 Chevrolet.

His team was forced to move to a backup car and he will miss qualifying and have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.

“Just had the left-rear (tire) going down on the back (stretch). I recognized it but I just couldn’t slow down in time,” Elliott said. “I hate that. I don’t know what to do. Hopefully, that’s not a trend that continues tomorrow.

“It’s kind of a concerning thing. I saw (Harvick) had one in a similar manner but fortunately he was in a spot where he could keep going.”

Just as the session ended, Brad Keselowski spun around but didn’t appear to suffer any damage.

Group A

Chastain topped the first practice session with an average lap speed of 165.659 mph.

Reddick was second (165.609 mph) and Kyle Busch third (165.397 mph). Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five.

About eight minutes into the session Kevin Harvick got loose then came to a stop on the track with a flat left-rear tire.

Harvick’s team was forced to the garage to replace the rear diffuser on his No. 4 Ford and was not able to continue in practice and will miss qualifying. He will start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.

In the final minute of the session, Corey LaJoie spun off Turn 4, which brought an end to the Group A practice. LaJoie had completed the most laps in the session (29).

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	2	Austin Cindric		Ford	22	29.399			167.271
2	22	Joey Logano		Ford	32	29.532	0.133	0.133	166.518
3	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	26	29.544	0.145	0.012	166.450
4	1	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	18	29.685	0.286	0.141	165.659
5	8	Tyler Reddick		Chevrolet	20	29.694	0.295	0.009	165.609
6	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	21	29.732	0.333	0.038	165.398
7	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	14	29.742	0.343	0.010	165.342
8	99	Daniel Suarez		Chevrolet	26	29.756	0.357	0.014	165.264
9	5	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	22	29.775	0.376	0.019	165.159
10	42	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	24	29.805	0.406	0.030	164.992
11	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet	27	29.814	0.415	0.009	164.943
12	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	28	29.838	0.439	0.024	164.810
13	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	26	29.842	0.443	0.004	164.788
14	23	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	18	29.854	0.455	0.012	164.722
15	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	12	29.861	0.462	0.007	164.683
16	48	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	27	29.867	0.468	0.006	164.650
17	17	Chris Buescher		Ford	24	29.885	0.486	0.018	164.551
18	14	Chase Briscoe		Ford	15	29.902	0.503	0.017	164.457
19	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	21	29.920	0.521	0.018	164.358
20	45	Kurt Busch		Toyota	26	29.925	0.526	0.005	164.331
21	6	Brad Keselowski		Ford	28	29.927	0.528	0.002	164.320
22	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	28	29.988	0.589	0.061	163.986
23	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	25	29.995	0.596	0.007	163.947
24	43	Erik Jones		Chevrolet	24	30.011	0.612	0.016	163.860
25	41	Cole Custer		Ford	24	30.019	0.620	0.008	163.816
26	51	Cody Ware		Ford	12	30.025	0.626	0.006	163.784
27	16	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	14	30.052	0.653	0.027	163.636
28	7	Corey Lajoie		Chevrolet	29	30.055	0.656	0.003	163.620
29	31	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	16	30.070	0.671	0.015	163.538
30	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	27	30.087	0.688	0.017	163.446
31	21	Harrison Burton		Ford	28	30.091	0.692	0.004	163.424
32	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	28	30.099	0.700	0.008	163.381
33	15	J.J. Yeley		Ford	14	30.400	1.001	0.301	161.763
34	38	Todd Gilliland		Ford	23	30.436	1.037	0.036	161.572
35	77	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	19	30.998	1.599	0.562	158.642
36	78	B.J. McLeod		Ford	1	34.065	4.666	3.067	144.359