Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA

Bowman tops first Cup practice at WGI, near-miss for Elliott

Alex Bowman rocketed to the top of the speed chart in the final minutes of Saturday’s first NASCAR Cup Series practice.

 Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Axalta

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Axalta

Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

Bowman, who doesn’t pride himself on being a very good road racer, topped the speed chart wat Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International with an average lap speed of 125.888 mph, knocking Kyle Busch from the top spot (125.786 mph).

In three Cup series starts at the Glen, Bowman’s best finish was 14th last year.

Last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin, ended up third (125.642 mph), Chase Elliott – who won this race a year ago – was fourth and Kyle Larson completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones and Joey Logano.

About eight minutes into the session, Matt Tifft spun off Turn 5 and briefly blocked the track, which brought out a caution. 

Elliott narrowly avoided slamming into Tifft. Tifft didn’t appear to do any significant damage to his No. 36 Ford. The track returned shortly thereafter to green-flag conditions.

 

After 20 minutes, Matt DiBenedetto developed a flat left-front tire after running through the bus stop. He slowly brought his No. 95 Toyota back to the garage area without incident.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 20 1'10.062     125.888
2 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota 19 1'10.119 0.057 0.057 125.786
3 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 23 1'10.199 0.137 0.080 125.643
4 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 22 1'10.210 0.148 0.011 125.623
5 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 19 1'10.241 0.179 0.031 125.568
6 12 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 20 1'10.445 0.383 0.204 125.204
7 19 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 20 1'10.634 0.572 0.189 124.869
8 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 22 1'10.697 0.635 0.063 124.758
9 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 18 1'10.699 0.637 0.002 124.754
10 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 15 1'10.799 0.737 0.100 124.578
11 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 17 1'10.814 0.752 0.015 124.552
12 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 16 1'10.835 0.773 0.021 124.515
13 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 20 1'10.915 0.853 0.080 124.374
14 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 19 1'10.988 0.926 0.073 124.246
15 95 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Toyota 15 1'11.093 1.031 0.105 124.063
16 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford 22 1'11.164 1.102 0.071 123.939
17 1 United States Kurt Busch  Chevrolet 19 1'11.189 1.127 0.025 123.896
18 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 20 1'11.266 1.204 0.077 123.762
19 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 20 1'11.276 1.214 0.010 123.744
20 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 16 1'11.290 1.228 0.014 123.720
21 8 United States Daniel Hemric  Chevrolet 19 1'11.333 1.271 0.043 123.645
22 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford 18 1'11.373 1.311 0.040 123.576
23 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Ford 18 1'11.602 1.540 0.229 123.181
24 96 United States Parker Kligerman  Toyota 16 1'11.639 1.577 0.037 123.117
25 6 United States Ryan Newman  Ford 15 1'11.659 1.597 0.020 123.083
26 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 23 1'11.720 1.658 0.061 122.978
27 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 14 1'11.742 1.680 0.022 122.941
28 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 11 1'11.902 1.840 0.160 122.667
29 47 United States Ryan Preece  Chevrolet 17 1'11.915 1.853 0.013 122.645
30 15 United States Ross Chastain  Chevrolet 14 1'12.125 2.063 0.210 122.288
31 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 12 1'12.237 2.175 0.112 122.098
32 36 United States Matt Tifft  Ford 15 1'12.419 2.357 0.182 121.791
33 32 United States Corey Lajoie  Ford 17 1'12.528 2.466 0.109 121.608
34 51 United States Cody Ware  Chevrolet 10 1'13.573 3.511 1.045 119.881
35 52 United States Josh Bilicki  Chevrolet 4 1'14.283 4.221 0.710 118.735
36 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 3 1'27.891 17.829 13.608 100.352

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Roush Fenway Gaming uses consistency to fuel success
Next article Chase Elliott leads the way in final Cup practice at the Glen

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA