For the first time since 2020, the NASCAR Cup Series is turning laps around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Tyler Reddick was the quickest in Friday’s 50-minute practice session from the historic 2.5-mile speedway, laying down a lap time of 49.293 seconds (182.581mph) to put his No. 45 at the top of the practice charts for the second straight weekend.
A native of Corning, California, Reddick was nearly two-tenths of a second up on the runner-up in the session, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion and last weekend’s winner at Pocono, Ryan Blaney.
Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, were ranked third and fourth in the session, while Chicago Street Course winner Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.
Kyle Larson was sixth quickest, with RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher in seventh and eighth. William Byron was ninth quickest in the session, while NASCAR Cup Series rookie Carson Hocevar rounded out the top-10.
Tyler Reddick, in addition to being fastest in single-lap speed in practice, was also the quickest of NASCAR Cup Series teams in the five-lap and 10-lap averages. Kyle Larson was quickest on the 15-lap average, but only he and his teammate Chase Elliott ran 15 consecutive laps in the session.
There were a pair of stoppages that delayed the end of the 50-minute practice at Indianapolis, the first for debris on the racetrack (which turned out to be what looked like a rag). The second was a spin in the final seconds of the session by Erik Jones of LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Jones was 28th in the session.
Of the 39 teams entered in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the only team that failed to turn a lap in the session was BJ McLeod and MBM Motorsports, a pairing that will do double-duty with the Xfinity Series event.
Qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series will take place on Saturday.
Photo Credit: Tyson Gifford, TobyChristie.com
