Bristol Practice Times: August 17, 2018 – NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series practice results from Bristol Motor Speedway

The high banked .533-mile concrete oval is set to host the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Two rounds of practice will lead into a qualifying round later today.

View 2018 Bristol practice speeds below.

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TV | Prac 1 | Prac 2 | Qual | Race

It’s an hour and twenty minute practice session. Most teams will be focused on long race runs in this opening round of practice.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr has now rush to get on the track. His crew chief is under the impression that the teams don’t have enough tires for how much practice time they have. He’s not the only one.

“It feels like you’re at a dirt track, parked on the infield,” Stenhouse tells NBC Sports as he sits on top of his hauler.

17 minutes into the session, Alex Bowman is the first car on the race track. He turns a 15.653. That’s slower than Xfinity practice. That just tells you why most teams are waiting for the track to be cleaned off.

45 minutes in, Chase Elliott sits at the top of the board with a 15.151.

Many drivers are exploring the top lane already. The trackbite applied to the bottom is narrower than it was back in March. Most cars don’t have their right sides in it at all. That makes the bottom slower than April, it will also allows the top of come in quicker.

Alex Bowman had a moment. He turned in for the corner and the back end continued to rotate through the center. That rotation is good for corner exit speed at Bristol. Too much and you have to chase the backend up the track. Same thing just happened for Larson.

The right rear isn’t in the trackbite. Teams might have to adjust their baselines as last year the right rear was more into the race track with the trackbite application being two feet wider in April.

As practice comes to a close, Larson is right against the wall. He’s second on the board. More and more cars are using lane three on the race track. The bottom won’t be as strong this weekend.

Chase Elliott holds on to win the opening round of practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The MENCS will race on Saturday night. Qualifying is set for later this afternoon.

View full 2018 Bristol Motor Speedway practice times below.


Bristol Motor Speedway
Practice Times
August 17, 2018

Practice 1: 10:35am

Pos | Driver | Best Time

1. Chase Elliott
15.151

2. Kyle Larson
15.191

3. Alex Bowman
15.193

4. Erik Jones
15.206

5. Ryan Blaney
15.211

6. Joey Logano
15.215

7. Kyle Busch
15.236

8. Kurt Busch
15.239

9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
15.243

10. Denny Hamlin
15.246

11. Ryan Newman
15.259

12. Daniel Suarez
15.282

13. William Byron
15.302

14. Aric Almirola
15.306

15. Kevin Harvick
15.314

16. Paul Menard
15.322

17. Martin Truex Jr
15.322

18. Jamie McMurray
15.332

19. Trevor Bayne
15.338

20. Brad Keselowski
15.342

21. Austin Dillon
15.349

22. Jimmie Johnson
15.360

23. Clint Bowyer
15.373

24.David Ragan
15.379

25. Chris Buescher
15.391

26. Kasey Kahne
15.395

27. AJ Allmendinger
15.401

28. Michael McDowell
15.455

29. Bubba Wallace
15.469

30. Ross Chastain
15.500

31. BJ McLeod
15.522

32. Ty Dillon
15.581

33. Blake Jones
15.590

34. Matt DiBenedetto
15.656

35. Corey LaJoie
15.676

36. Jesse Little
15.697

37. Landon Cassill
15.729

38. Gray Gaulding
15.848

39. JJ Yaley
15.925

40. Timmy Hill
15.985

41. Reed Sorenson
16.011


Bristol Motor Speedway
10-lap averages
August 17, 2018

Practice 1: 10:35am

Pos | Driver | Average Speed | Laps

1. Martin Truex Jr
123.290 | 18-27

2. Kyle Busch
123.180 | 28-37

3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
123.008 | 28-37

4. Denny Hamlin
122.880 | 31-40

5. Brad Keselowski
122.846 | 20-29

6. Kyle Larson
122.676 | 20-29

7. Kurt Busch
122.584 | 13-22

8. Trevor Bayne
122.387 | 22-31

9. Jamie McMurray
122.010 | 28-37

10. Chase Elliott
121.920 | 29-38

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Related: Bristol Truck Race Results – August 16, 2018

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