The sole NASCAR Cup Series practice session of championship weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway concluded Friday night, with Chase Briscoe posting the fastest lap at 32.680 seconds (165.238 mph).
Briscoe edged Austin Cindric by 0.073 seconds, while championship contenders Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell claimed third and fourth, respectively. Ryan Blaney completed the top five.
Points leader Kyle Larson ranked tenth in single-lap speed and made multiple trips to the wall while working the upper groove around the 1.5-mile intermediate oval, sustaining minor right-side damage to his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Joey Logano was among the other drivers who also brushed the wall during the session.
Watch: Kyle Larson tests the limits, scrapes wall in practice
Cindric also posted the fastest five-lap average, while his Penske teammate Blaney led the 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, and 30-lap averages. Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, and Ty Gibbs were also strong on long runs, with Bell emerging as the top title contender in that category.
“That’s probably pretty excessive,” Larson said after the session regarding his wall contact. “I didn’t feel very good early on. I wasn’t comfortable for the first few laps, then I felt okay briefly, but I didn’t have enough grip to run the wall as needed. I need to review what I did wrong and take feedback from my teammates. There was a clear disconnect and lack of comfort from the opening laps to the end. I didn’t get many long runs in, but I kept getting stuck in the wall. It wasn’t a great practice, though I haven’t fully analyzed it yet.”
Reddick Pit-Road Incident
Late in practice, an unusual incident occurred when Tyler Reddick attempted a mock pit stop and struck the rear of a slowing Zane Smith at pit entry. Reddick spun out and sustained nose damage to his No. 45 car.
Team co-owner Michael Jordan watched from the pits, visibly dismayed, while Reddick was frustrated after exiting the vehicle.
“It just sums up our year,” Reddick said. “When we have something really solid, we find a way to ruin it. Zane and I were both entering pit road hot, nearing the point of no return. I realized he was braking hard, and I saw a car ahead turning into the garage. That’s likely where the trouble started. We were both coming in fast, expecting to roll down pit road, and I couldn’t tell who—oh, 34, Todd Gilliland. Yeah, there it is. I reviewed the replay, but that’s just how it felt. We came in hot, he checked up, and cars were turning into the garage. It just sucks.”
The garage entrance is located near the pit-road entry, at an opening in the pit wall.
