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