RELATED: Practice 1 results | Final practice results
Kyle Larson led the way in final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice Friday afternoon, putting the HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet atop the leaderboard at Watkins Glen International.
Larson, a Sprint Cup regular with two XFINITY wins in his career, turned a lap of 123.623 mph late in the 57-minute session, which was extended two minutes past its scheduled window by NASCAR officials. His lap was slightly more than eight-tenths of a second better than second-fastest Joey Logano, who clocked a 122.223-mph lap in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford and was fastest in opening practice.
Paul Menard was third-fastest 122.201 mph in the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet in a 1-2-3 sweep by Sprint Cup regulars. Ty Dillon was fourth-fastest in another Childress Chevy, just ahead of fifth-best Brad Keselowski in the other Penske entry, the No. 22 Ford.
Defending series champion Chase Elliott managed just the 18th-fastest lap at 119.444 mph, but dealt with mechanical trouble when his JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet slowed on the frontstretch midway through practice.
“I think the rear end locked up on it,” Elliott told his crew. “May have been a fluid issue with it. I don’t think I missed any shifts.”
Series points leader Chris Buescher was sixth-fastest in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 60 Ford. Daniel Suarez, who severely damaged his primary Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota during a crash in opening practice, was 11th-fastest. His lap was just one spot better than JGR teammate Boris Said, a veteran road racing making his third XFINITY start of the season.
NASCAR officials added two minutes to final practice because of two late-session instances of stalled cars — one for Eric McClure‘s No. 24 and another for Tomy Drissi‘s No. 26.
Coors Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled Saturday at 11:15 a.m. ET (CNBC).
Logano sets early pace; heavy crash early hits Suarez
Joey Logano sailed to the top of the leaderboard Friday afternoon in opening NASCAR XFINITY Series practice at Watkins Glen International.
Logano drove the Team Penske No. 12 Ford to a fast lap of 122.452 mph on the 2.45-mile road course in preparation for Saturday’s Zippo 200 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the 20th of 33 races this season. His lap was just slightly better than second-fastest Brad Keselowski, his Penske teammate who registered an 122.286 mph lap in the No. 22 Ford.
Brendan Gaughan was third-fastest and Paul Menard fourth-best in a pair of Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets. Kyle Larson completed the top five.
The 85-minute first session was marked by a severe crash for rookie Daniel Suarez in the early going. Suarez lost control of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota at the exit of the bus-stop chicane, sliding off course and hard into the Turn 5 barrier.
The 23-year-old Suarez was uninjured, but the force of the impact lifted the No. 18 entry off the ground. His crew prepared his backup car in time for him to return to the track at the tail end of the practice.
“When I got to that part of the race track, I was a little bit too loose on entry,” Suarez said. “Like I say, it was my first lap with speed and it looks like it was a pretty hard hit. I just wasn’t able to handle that little loop because it was getting worse and worse and worse, and I wasn’t able to put the car back straight. I’m just disappointed with myself because it was very, very early. Hopefully we can get back to the race track to make up some ground.”
Aside from Suarez’s wreck, the session was marked by a handful of harmless solo spins. John Wes Townley and Todd Bodine both looped their cars in Turn 7, near the track’s pit entrance. Keselowski overshot the chicane, putting all four wheels in the grass before Turn 5.
XFINITY Series points leader Chris Buescher was sixth-fastest in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 60 Ford. Boris Said, the 52-year-old road racing expert, was ninth-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota as he readies for his third XFINITY Series start of the year.
Final XFINITY practice is scheduled from 3:30-4:25 p.m. ET (NBCSN), with Coors Light Pole Qualifying set for Saturday at 11:15 a.m. ET (CNBC).