Chase Elliott leads opening Cup practice from Bristol

Elliott’s fastest average lap speed of 126.645 mph just edged Kyle Larson (126.312 mph). Alex Bowman ended up third (126.295 mph). Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney completed the top-five.

In five career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Bristol, Elliott’s best finish of fourth came in his first series race in 2016. This spring, he started 16th and finished 29th.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Joey Logano, spring race winner Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Denny Hamlin.

Martin Truex Jr. was fastest among the drivers who completed at least 10 consecutive laps (123.290 mph). Rounding out the top five in that category were Kyle Busch, Stenhouse, Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.

The teams of Daniel Suarez, Ryan Newman, Michael McDowell and Darrell Wallace Jr. sat out the final 15 minutes of the first practice session for failing pre-race inspection two times last weekend at Michigan.

Cla	#	Driver	4506	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	55	15.151			126.645
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	37	15.191	0.040	0.040	126.312
3	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	62	15.193	0.042	0.002	126.295
4	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	55	15.206	0.055	0.013	126.187
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	30	15.211	0.060	0.005	126.146
6	22	Joey Logano	Ford	53	15.215	0.064	0.004	126.112
7	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	52	15.236	0.085	0.021	125.939
8	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	49	15.239	0.088	0.003	125.914
9	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	53	15.243	0.092	0.004	125.881
10	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	45	15.246	0.095	0.003	125.856
11	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	33	15.259	0.108	0.013	125.749
12	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	35	15.282	0.131	0.023	125.559
13	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	23	15.302	0.151	0.020	125.395
14	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	50	15.306	0.155	0.004	125.363
15	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	36	15.314	0.163	0.008	125.297
16	21	Paul Menard	Ford	42	15.322	0.171	0.008	125.232
17	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	46	15.322	0.171	0.000	125.232
18	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	59	15.332	0.181	0.010	125.150
19	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	41	15.338	0.187	0.006	125.101
20	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	38	15.342	0.191	0.004	125.068
21	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	59	15.349	0.198	0.007	125.011
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	18	15.360	0.209	0.011	124.922
23	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	54	15.373	0.222	0.013	124.816
24	38	David Ragan	Ford	35	15.379	0.228	0.006	124.768
25	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	61	15.391	0.240	0.012	124.670
26	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	58	15.395	0.244	0.004	124.638
27	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	52	15.401	0.250	0.006	124.589
28	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	26	15.455	0.304	0.054	124.154
29	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	51	15.469	0.318	0.014	124.042
30	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	21	15.500	0.349	0.031	123.794
31	52	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	3	15.522	0.371	0.022	123.618
32	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	55	15.581	0.430	0.059	123.150
33	23	Jones Blake	Toyota	48	15.590	0.439	0.009	123.079
34	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	27	15.656	0.505	0.066	122.560
35	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	32	15.676	0.525	0.020	122.404
36	96	Jesse Little	Toyota	72	15.697	0.546	0.021	122.240
37	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	36	15.729	0.578	0.032	121.991
38	99	Gray Gaulding	Chevrolet	21	15.848	0.697	0.119	121.075
39	7	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	30	15.925	0.774	0.077	120.490
40	66	Timmy Hill	Toyota	11	15.985	0.834	0.060	120.038
41	51	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	21	16.011	0.860	0.026	119.843