That’s a wrap for practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Ryan Blaney penned the fastest speed with a 133.572 mph lap around the 1.058-mile oval during the third and final practice Saturday. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford is seeking his first victory this season Sunday in the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Denny Hamlin, though, was right behind Blaney at 133.226 mph. Kyle Busch was third at 132.739 mph. Kevin Harvick (132.688 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (132.646 mph) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
RELATED: Final practice results | 10-lap averages | New Hampshire starting lineup
Alex Bowman’s backup ended up needing a backup, as his second No. 88 Chevrolet made contact with the wall and sustained enough damage that he’ll have to use a teammate’s car for the rest of the weekend. Hendrick Motorsports ultimately decided to bring out Jimmie Johnson’s backup from the hauler for Bowman. Johnson came in 10th at 132.475 mph, while Bowman was 18th with 132.057 mph.
Matt DiBenedetto blew two tires during during the afternoon practice alone, too. He ended up 20th with a speed of 131.560 mph.
Blaney’s No. 12 team, the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford of Paul Menard, No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of Chris Buescher and the No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet of Landon Cassill all served 15-minute penalties for being late to inspection. Daniel Hemric’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet failed inspection twice, so his team was also docked 15 minutes of practice time.
Byron, Larson go to backup cars as Jones tops second practice
Erik Jones zoomed to the top of Saturday’s morning practice leaderboard at New Hampshire, clocking a best lap of 133.427 mph.
The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will be looking for his first win of the season Sunday. He’ll have to fend off pole-sitter Brad Keselowski, who had the second-best performance with a fast lap of 133.394 mph. Aric Almirola was third at 133.366 mph, followed by Busch (133.240 mph) and Blaney (133.138 mph) rounding out the top five in order.
RELATED: Practice 1 results | 10-lap averages | Full New Hampshire schedule
Not everyone’s practice went as well.
William Byron hit the wall early on and has to switch to a backup car for any further action. Kyle Larson also clipped the wall immediately after and swapped out cars as he had front and right rear damage.
That means five teams will be driving a backup car on race day: Byron, Larson, Bowman, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman.