Erik Jones tops Saturday's first Cup Series practice at Bristol
Erik Jones continues on pace for a strong performance in this weekend’s Cup race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Erik Jones, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Craftsman "Racing for a Miracle"
John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
Jones followed up his fourth-place qualifying effort from Friday by leading Saturday’s first practice session.
His average lap speed of 129.903 mph (14.771 seconds) topped Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (129.850 mph) and Daniel Suarez (129.482 mph). Joey Logano was fourth and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.
In four career Cup Series starts at Bristol, Jones has a pair of top-five finishes, including a fifth in last August’s race.
“I feel like we were making the right strides. There was just a lot of circumstantial stuff that happened in the last few races that didn’t play out,” Jones said. “Texas was a good race for us obviously. We have the speed and we’ve got the team.
“If we keep having races like Texas that win is going to come. I feel really good about this weekend. I feel like we’ve got a great chance to really knock this one out and have a pretty good race and hopefully win it.”
Rounding out the top-10 were Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney.
In all, 21 teams ran laps under 15 seconds during the 55-minute session.
Practice was briefly halted with about 22 minutes left to check the track for debris.
Pole-winner Chase Elliott ended up 13th-fastest.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 47 | 14.771 | 129.903 | |||
2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 42 | 14.777 | 0.006 | 0.006 | 129.850 | |
3 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 66 | 14.819 | 0.048 | 0.042 | 129.482 | |
4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 55 | 14.852 | 0.081 | 0.033 | 129.195 | |
5 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 62 | 14.853 | 0.082 | 0.001 | 129.186 | |
6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 75 | 14.864 | 0.093 | 0.011 | 129.090 | |
7 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 65 | 14.870 | 0.099 | 0.006 | 129.038 | |
8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 45 | 14.870 | 0.099 | 0.000 | 129.038 | |
9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 77 | 14.874 | 0.103 | 0.004 | 129.004 | |
10 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 64 | 14.877 | 0.106 | 0.003 | 128.978 | |
11 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 76 | 14.883 | 0.112 | 0.006 | 128.926 | |
12 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 48 | 14.908 | 0.137 | 0.025 | 128.709 | |
13 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 63 | 14.915 | 0.144 | 0.007 | 128.649 | |
14 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 73 | 14.921 | 0.150 | 0.006 | 128.597 | |
15 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 76 | 14.926 | 0.155 | 0.005 | 128.554 | |
16 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 110 | 14.942 | 0.171 | 0.016 | 128.417 | |
17 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 63 | 14.951 | 0.180 | 0.009 | 128.339 | |
18 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 46 | 14.954 | 0.183 | 0.003 | 128.313 | |
19 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 46 | 14.957 | 0.186 | 0.003 | 128.288 | |
20 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 83 | 14.964 | 0.193 | 0.007 | 128.228 | |
21 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 59 | 14.984 | 0.213 | 0.020 | 128.057 | |
22 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 93 | 15.017 | 0.246 | 0.033 | 127.775 | |
23 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 64 | 15.051 | 0.280 | 0.034 | 127.487 | |
24 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 61 | 15.062 | 0.291 | 0.011 | 127.393 | |
25 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 54 | 15.097 | 0.326 | 0.035 | 127.098 | |
26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 63 | 15.105 | 0.334 | 0.008 | 127.031 | |
27 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 47 | 15.108 | 0.337 | 0.003 | 127.006 | |
28 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 51 | 15.111 | 0.340 | 0.003 | 126.980 | |
29 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 62 | 15.120 | 0.349 | 0.009 | 126.905 | |
30 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 64 | 15.121 | 0.350 | 0.001 | 126.896 | |
31 | 36 | Matt Tifft | Ford | 56 | 15.160 | 0.389 | 0.039 | 126.570 | |
32 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 59 | 15.248 | 0.477 | 0.088 | 125.839 | |
33 | 51 | Gray Gaulding | Chevrolet | 9 | 15.257 | 0.486 | 0.009 | 125.765 | |
34 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 2 | 15.631 | 0.860 | 0.374 | 122.756 | |
35 | 77 | Quin Houff | Chevrolet | 57 | 15.709 | 0.938 | 0.078 | 122.147 |
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