23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick set the pace in NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 practice Friday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, turning a lap of 182.582 mph in the No. 45 Toyota – out-pacing Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford by .177-second. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was third quickest in the No. 11 Toyota.
Reddick also posted the best 10-lap average speed, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and Hamlin.
“It seemed pretty solid,” Reddick said of his car. “When you come to a place like this, that’s always something you hope for. I’ve been fortunate we’ve run the road course here and we’ve been really, really strong. Obviously it seemed like [fellow Toyota driver] Denny [Hamlin] had a really good test and we were able to get some good data from him.”
“Tracks like this, it’s always a question mark to some degree, you know? How close is your sim preparation going to be? But it seemed like everyone did a pretty good job. Pretty happy with how the car drives.”
The 55-minute session had a brief caution period for debris midway through, but was otherwise uneventful in the series’ return to the historic 2.5-mile Indianapolis oval for Sunday’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
JGR’s Christopher Bell and Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five in practice for Sunday’s race – the first time the series has raced on the oval since 2020.
Series championship leader Chase Elliott was 12th quickest in Friday’s practice, his teammate Larson – who trails Elliott by a mere three-points in the standings – was sixth quickest.
Larson, who competed in May’s Indianapolis 500, is driving the No. 5 Chevrolet with the same paint scheme he was scheduled to drive later that that day in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After a rain delay at Indy, Larson didn’t arrive in time to race it before rain showers ended the Charlotte race early.
There are three former Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval-race winners entered this weekend – including four-time Brickyard champion Jimmie Johnson, two-time winner Kyle Busch and 2018 winner Brad Keselowski.
Qualifying for the Brickyard 400 is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET Saturday (USA Network, NBC Sports App, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Chandler Smith led the NASCAR Xfinity Series 55-minute practice early Friday afternoon posting a lap of 166.756 mph in the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – .060-second better than Parker Kligerman in the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet.
IndyCar veteran Conor Daly was third fastest, followed by Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst. Current championship leader, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer was 11th on the speed chart.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pennzoil 250 is Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET (USA Network, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
PRACTICE RESULTS
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- Josh Berry has a secret weapon when it comes to the Indy oval - July 19, 2024