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William Byron fastest overall in NASCAR Cup practice at COTA

Byron, who won the pole for this race a year ago, was among the last cars to complete laps at the end of 1½ hours of practice and with time already expired registered the fastest average lap speed of the day at 94.415 mph.

Teams were split into two groups and each group given a pair of 20-minute sessions on the track since it’s the first road course race of the season with NASCAR’s new aero package in use.

Byron’s top speed came from Group B, which just eclipsed Ty Gibbs’ fastest lap of 94.681 mph, which came in the second of Group A’s sessions.

Group B

Byron’s late flyer lap in the second of two 20-minute Group B sessions at 94.703 mph easily topped the speed chart.

His Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Alex Bowman, ended up second fastest (94.415 mph) and Christopher Bell was third (94.226 mph). Ross Chastain and Kamui Kobayashi rounded out the top five.

In the first Group B session, Chastain spun around once but was able to get back going and a handful of drivers had their lap times disallowed for short cutting the course, including Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon and Josh Berry.

McDowell spun around early in the second Group B session but was able to get back on track without need of a caution. Chastain and Justin Haley had lap times disallowed in the second session for short cutting the course.

Group A

Gibbs set a blistering pace in both Group A sessions, and improved on his time in the second 40-minute practice, leading the way with an average lap speed of 94.681 mph.

Wallace ended up second quick (94.260 mph) Kyle Busch was third. Shane van Gisbergen and Corey LaJoie rounded out the top five.

“Proud of the effort of everyone at 23XI Racing,” Wallace said. “It’s paying off, but some guys were on different tires. Just going through the motions and setting us up for the race tomorrow.”

About 10 minutes into the first Group A session, Tyler Reddick went around off Turn 7 and stalled on the track, which forced NASCAR to bring a brief halt to the action.

Several drivers had their lap times disallowed after short cutting the course in Group A, including LaJoie, Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe.

CLA DRIVER #   MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH
1 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24   Chevrolet 14

2’09.626

  94.703
2

T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING

54   Toyota 16

+0.030

2’09.656

0.030 94.681
3 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48   Chevrolet 13

+0.395

2’10.021

0.365 94.416
4 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23   Toyota 13

+0.609

2’10.235

0.214 94.260
5 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20   Toyota 15

+0.656

2’10.282

0.047 94.226
6 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8   Chevrolet 14

+0.787

2’10.413

0.131 94.132
7 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1   Chevrolet 15

+0.791

2’10.417

0.004 94.129
8 K. Kobayashi23XI RACING 50   Toyota 10

+0.941

2’10.567

0.150 94.021
9 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5   Chevrolet 14

+0.997

2’10.623

0.056 93.980
10 S. van GisbergenKAULIG RACING 16   Chevrolet 15

+1.043

2’10.669

0.046 93.947
11 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7   Chevrolet 14

+1.051

2’10.677

0.008 93.942
12 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45   Toyota 11

+1.262

2’10.888

0.211 93.790
13 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2   Ford 13

+1.289

2’10.915

0.027 93.771
14 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14   Ford 15

+1.391

2’11.017

0.102 93.698
15 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19   Toyota 17

+1.443

2’11.069

0.052 93.661
16 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12   Ford 18

+1.450

2’11.076

0.007 93.656
17 A. AllmendingerKAULIG RACING 13   Chevrolet 12

+1.553

2’11.179

0.103 93.582
18 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17   Ford 16

+1.613

2’11.239

0.060 93.539
19 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22   Ford 15

+1.666

2’11.292

0.053 93.502
20 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9   Chevrolet 15

+1.668

2’11.294

0.002 93.500
21 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51   Ford 13

+1.701

2’11.327

0.033 93.477
22 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41   Ford 13

+1.716

2’11.342

0.015 93.466
23 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10   Ford 17

+1.727

2’11.353

0.011 93.458
24 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99   Chevrolet 16

+1.784

2’11.410

0.057 93.418
25 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3   Chevrolet 15

+1.818

2’11.444

0.034 93.393
26 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34   Ford 16

+1.876

2’11.502

0.058 93.352
27 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38   Ford 17

+2.059

2’11.685

0.183 93.222
28 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47   Chevrolet 11

+2.111

2’11.737

0.052 93.186
29

C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS

77   Chevrolet 15

+2.121

2’11.747

0.010 93.179
30 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6   Ford 15

+2.166

2’11.792

0.045 93.147
31 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42   Toyota 17

+2.238

2’11.864

0.072 93.096
32

Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS

71   Chevrolet 16

+2.297

2’11.923

0.059 93.054
33 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11   Toyota 17

+2.506

2’12.132

0.209 92.907
34 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15   Ford 11

+2.511

2’12.137

0.005 92.904
35 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21   Ford 12

+2.562

2’12.188

0.051 92.868
36 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4   Ford 15

+2.864

2’12.490

0.302 92.656
37 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43   Toyota 12

+3.280

2’12.906

0.416 92.366
38 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31   Chevrolet 13

+3.330

2’12.956

0.050 92.331
39 T. HillMBM 66   Ford 4

+8.292

2’17.918

4.962 89.009

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