In the first NASCAR Cup Series practice session since August — and in his final session as a driver for Team Penske — Brad Keselowski ran the fastest lap of the 39 cars to hit the track at Phoenix Raceway, reaching a speed of 135.384 mph on Friday, Nov. 5.
Kyle Larson, Matt DiBenedetto, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott followed Keselowski to complete the rest of the top five. Larson was the fastest of the Championship 4 contenders, followed by Elliott.
Fellow Championship 4 drivers Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. posted the eighth- and 18th-fastest laps of the session, respectively.
The practice experienced a brief delay toward the beginning of the hour after BJ McLeod‘s car caught on fire. McLeod emerged uninjured from his car on pit road.
Cup Phoenix Practice Results
The series will qualify for Sunday’s (Nov. 7) race at 7:05 p.m. ET on Nov. 6, with TV coverage provided by CNBC. 39 cars are entered, meaning all will start Sunday’s race.
The Cup season finale will take place on Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. ET, with coverage provided by NBC.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
Baby Busch should have really good event seeing as he has practice time to get his car perfect. Too bad NA$CAR won’t let him run higher than fifth.