Trouble snares Elliott, Ty Dillon, Harvick at Bristol
RELATED: Practice 1 results | Practice 2 results
Former series champion Austin Dillon scooted to the top of the leaderboard in an eventful final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway, marked by a handful of incidents — one by last year’s champion, Chase Elliott, and another by this year’s series leader, Ty Dillon.
Dillon, driving the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet, notched a fast lap of 124.412 mph in the 85-minute session. He was slightly better than Denny Hamlin, who led opening practice but was second-fastest in the final prep at 124.259 mph on the 0.533-mile track, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch.
Fellow Gibbs driver Daniel Suarez, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate this year, was third-best at 123.754 mph in the No. 18 Toyota. Roush Fenway Racing‘s Chris Buescher and Childress’ Brian Scott completed the top five in preparation for Saturday’s Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).
Elliott was the first to find trouble early on, fishtailing and popping the wall at the exit of Turn 2 with the right-rear of his No. 9 Chevrolet. His JR Motorsports crew replaced the rear deck and spoiler in addition to other repairs, and Elliott was able to return to the track.
Dillon’s trouble came with 22 minutes left in the session when he looped the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevy, making slight contact with the outside wall.
In between those two incidents, Brennan Poole skidded off Turn 2 in the HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi No. 42 Chevy, making brief contact with the inside wall.
The final incident of the session came with just under eight minutes left when Kevin Harvick scraped the Turn 3 wall with the right side of the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet. Harvick indicated to FOX Sports 1 that he thought the team would not have to unload its reserve car.
Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday at 9:45 a.m. ET (FOX Sports 1).
Hamlin holds edge in opening Bristol practice | Practice 1 results
Denny Hamlin set the early pace in opening NASCAR XFINITY Series practice Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Hamlin, driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch, registered a best lap of 122.100 mph on the 0.533-mile track. His clocking was just three-thousandths of a second better than second-fastest Brian Scott, who posted a 122.077-mph lap in the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 Chevrolet during the 55-minute session.
Joey Logano was third-fastest in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford ahead of Saturday’s Drive to Stop Diabetes 300 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). Erik Jones, a first-time XFINITY winner last week at Texas and a JGR teammate to Hamlin, was fourth-fastest with another Childress driver, former series champion Austin Dillon, completing the top five.
NASCAR XFINITY Series points leader Ty Dillon was 12th-fastest at 120.308 mph in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet. Defending series champion Chase Elliott was just ahead of Ty Dillon, 11th-place at 120.512 mph in the JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet.
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