The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series held its first practice session on Friday (July 19) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott held the fastest lap, while Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman crashed late in the session. Both drivers’ teams will prepare their backup cars before qualifying later Friday, and will move to the rear on Sunday.
Elliott ran a fast lap speed of 137.086 mph during the day’s lone session. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto both had a speed of 136.874 mph. Ryan Blaney held the fourth fastest lap, going 136.815 mph, while Daniel Suarez rounded out the top five.
Elliott’s teammate Alex Bowman was sixth quickest, while Kyle Busch’s cohort, Martin Truex Jr., was just behind Bowman in seventh. Kevin Harvick was eighth fastest, and Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski finished up the top 10.
Near the end of the period, Hamlin got loose in a turn and suffered heavy damage when he hit the wall.
This was not the way @DennyHamlin wanted to end practice.
Ride along with the No. 11 as he spins and hits the wall at @NHMS. pic.twitter.com/QJJXvk3tJj
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 19, 2019
Newman also spun and hit the wall, right before time expired:
.@RyanJNewman’s primary suffered too much rear end damage, so the backup being prepped now in the garage. pic.twitter.com/NuNK1pGYAv
— No. 6 Team (@Roush6Team) July 19, 2019
Qualifying is scheduled to run at 4:35 p.m. ET and will be aired on NBCSN.
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.