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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