Race Weekend Central

Ryan Blaney Soars to Top of Charts in 1st Cup Practice at Texas

Ryan Blaney was fastest in opening practice at the Texas Motor Speedway on Friday.

A 27.009-second lap put Blaney fastest of the 40 cars in the session. Fellow playoff driver Denny Hamlin finished second, 0.100 behind Blaney. Kurt Busch finished third in the session followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth.

Jimmie Johnson, who won the spring race at Texas, was the slowest playoff driver of the eight finishing 19th. The No. 48 team also struggled with fuel pressure issues during the session.

Only three drivers turned 10 consecutive laps in the session. Clint Bowyer, who was 21st-quickest, had an average speed of 190.653 mph in his initial 10 laps. Daniel Hemric, who is practicing and qualifying for Paul Menard, whose second child was born Wednesday, finished 28th in the session and had the second fastest 10-lap average. Danica Patrick was the third and final driver to run 10 consecutive laps.

Bowyer turned the most laps of the session (25) while playoff driver Johnson turned the least amount of laps (3).

Qualifying for the AAA Texas 500 at Texas is slated for Friday Evening (Nov. 3rd) at 6:15 p.m. ET. Two practices are scheduled for Saturday (3 & 4 p.m. ET). The AAA Texas 500 will go live on NBC Sports Network Sunday at 2 p.m. ET and will also be broadcast on the Performance Racing Network.

2017 Cup Practice 1 Results Texas

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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