Brandon Jones turned a fast lap late in the first NASCAR XFINITY Series practice session at Chicagoland Speedway to put his No. 33 at the top of the speed charts with a speed of 174.413 mph.
Erik Jones led a majority of the session with a speed of 173.639 mph, still good enough for second.
Jones enters this weekend in a must-win situation with a 109-point deficit outside of the cut off line. Jones made the playoffs last season and is looking to deliver a walk-off style victory tomorrow afternoon. After starting 40th in this race last season, Jones finished 10th sealing his playoff spot. His best finish this season has been a ninth, coming twice at Michigan International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Matt Tifft finished third, joined by Ryan Blaney and Brendan Gaughan in the top five. While Tifft has a padded points position, Gaughan sits on the bubble with 25 points to the good on his side.
35 of the 39 drivers took a lap in this session, with Spencer Gallagher turning the most laps of the session at 35. Timmy Hill turned the least amount of laps with just one. There was a 2.487-second difference between the first-place car and the 35th-place car.
Erik Jones led the drivers who stayed out for more than 10 laps with an average speed of 169.276 mph. XFINITY Series regulars Gaughan, Tifft, William Byron and Gallagher rounded out the best 10-consecutive-lap average.
The final NASCAR XFINITY Series practice of the weekend starts at 4 p.m. ET today and will be available on the NBC Sports app. Qualifying for the XFINITY Series is tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with the race going live at 3:30 p.m. ET, also on NBCSN.
About the author
His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.
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