Denny Hamlin fastest in race-like final practice at Texas
Denny Hamlin led the way in Saturday’s final NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Texas, the final minutes of which turned into a mini-race.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry FedEx Office
Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
For the final 15 minutes or so of the session, drivers appeared far more comfortable running in a pack, which looked much more like a race than a typical practice session.
Hamlin’s average lap speed of 186.987 mph came later in the session and he topped Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch (186.342 mph) and Ryan Blaney (186.278 mph). Kurt Busch and pole winner Jimmie Johnson completed the top-five.
“I got to thank Matt McCall and everyone on this No. 1 car – every Saturday is better than our Fridays,” Kurt Busch said. “The track compound is coming in as more cars run in it and (Turns) 3 and 4 are just wide-open. I think the race will be run in Turns 1 and 2.”
Rounding out the Top 10 were Daniel Hemric, Kyle Larson, Paul Menard, Kevin Harvick and Bubba Wallace.
Johnson had the fastest average lap speed (184.366) among those driver who ran at least 10 consecutive laps. Kurt Busch and Larson were second and third, respectively, in that category.
Three minutes into the session a caution was displayed for fluid on the backstretch. The fluid may have been from the power steering from Alex Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet.
Erik Jones had to sit out the final 15 minutes of the session after his No. 20 Toyota failed pre-qualifying inspection twice on Friday.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 42 | 28.879 | 186.987 | |||
2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 31 | 28.979 | 0.100 | 0.100 | 186.342 | |
3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 32 | 28.989 | 0.110 | 0.010 | 186.278 | |
4 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 41 | 29.018 | 0.139 | 0.029 | 186.091 | |
5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 40 | 29.025 | 0.146 | 0.007 | 186.047 | |
6 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 39 | 29.059 | 0.180 | 0.034 | 185.829 | |
7 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 47 | 29.070 | 0.191 | 0.011 | 185.759 | |
8 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 45 | 29.074 | 0.195 | 0.004 | 185.733 | |
9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 54 | 29.093 | 0.214 | 0.019 | 185.612 | |
10 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 52 | 29.100 | 0.221 | 0.007 | 185.567 | |
11 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 32 | 29.134 | 0.255 | 0.034 | 185.350 | |
12 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 48 | 29.137 | 0.258 | 0.003 | 185.331 | |
13 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 42 | 29.154 | 0.275 | 0.017 | 185.223 | |
14 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 36 | 29.170 | 0.291 | 0.016 | 185.122 | |
15 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 55 | 29.182 | 0.303 | 0.012 | 185.046 | |
16 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 40 | 29.190 | 0.311 | 0.008 | 184.995 | |
17 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 49 | 29.191 | 0.312 | 0.001 | 184.989 | |
18 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 47 | 29.220 | 0.341 | 0.029 | 184.805 | |
19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 43 | 29.248 | 0.369 | 0.028 | 184.628 | |
20 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 37 | 29.256 | 0.377 | 0.008 | 184.578 | |
21 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 41 | 29.260 | 0.381 | 0.004 | 184.552 | |
22 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 30 | 29.260 | 0.381 | 0.000 | 184.552 | |
23 | 96 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 34 | 29.271 | 0.392 | 0.011 | 184.483 | |
24 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 37 | 29.272 | 0.393 | 0.001 | 184.477 | |
25 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 49 | 29.273 | 0.394 | 0.001 | 184.470 | |
26 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 43 | 29.277 | 0.398 | 0.004 | 184.445 | |
27 | 36 | Matt Tifft | Ford | 31 | 29.323 | 0.444 | 0.046 | 184.156 | |
28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 42 | 29.326 | 0.447 | 0.003 | 184.137 | |
29 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 41 | 29.336 | 0.457 | 0.010 | 184.074 | |
30 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 38 | 29.391 | 0.512 | 0.055 | 183.730 | |
31 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 54 | 29.394 | 0.515 | 0.003 | 183.711 | |
32 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 26 | 29.406 | 0.527 | 0.012 | 183.636 | |
33 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 28 | 29.754 | 0.875 | 0.348 | 181.488 | |
34 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 19 | 29.862 | 0.983 | 0.108 | 180.832 | |
35 | 52 | Bayley Currey | Chevrolet | 13 | 29.933 | 1.054 | 0.071 | 180.403 | |
36 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Ford | 9 | 30.064 | 1.185 | 0.131 | 179.617 | |
37 | 27 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 9 | 30.112 | 1.233 | 0.048 | 179.330 | |
38 | 77 | Garrett Smithley | Chevrolet | 5 | 30.525 | 1.646 | 0.413 | 176.904 | |
39 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 10 | 31.028 | 2.149 | 0.503 | 174.036 |
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