Ryan Blaney Paces Final Practice for Food City Dirt Race at Bristol

Ryan Blaney – the NASCAR Cup Series’ most recent winner — topped the final practice session for the NASCAR Cup Series’ Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, posting a lap of 20.172 / 89.232mph.

Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Rookie of The Year Contender Chase Briscoe rounded out the top-five in the second of two 50-minute practices for the 39 teams entered in Sunday’s event.

The practice session only featured a single caution for incident, for a spin by second-year driver Cole Custer.

NCS Final Practice at Bristol Dirt Track:

1. No. 12 – Ryan Blaney – 20.172 – 89.232mph
2. No. 48 – Alex Bowman – 20.194 – 89.135mph
3. No. 11 – Denny Hamlin – 20.228 – 88.985mph
4. No. 22 – Joey Logano – 20.262 – 88.836mph
5. No. 14 – Chase Briscoe – 20.313 – 88.613mph
6. No. 19 – Martin Truex Jr. – 20.319 – 88.587mph
7. No. 9 – Chase Elliott – 20.320 – 88.582mph
8. No. 34 – Michael McDowell – 20.321 – 88.192mph
9. No. 24 – William Byron – 20.410 – 88.170mph
10. No. 18 – Kyle Busch – 20.415 – 88.114mph

Notables:

No. 1 – Kurt Busch – 24th
No. 2 – Brad Keselowski – 14th
No. 3 – Austin Dillon -26th
No. 4 – Kevin Harvick – 37th
No. 5 – Kyle Larson – 15th
No. 10 – Aric Almirola – 23rd
No. 20 – Christopher Bell – 12th
No. 21 – Matt DiBenedetto – 13th
No. 47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 19th

10-Lap Averages:

1. No. 5 – Kyle Larson – 87.340mph
2. No. 11 – Denny Hamlin – 87.015mph
3. No. 8 – Tyler Reddick – 86.943mph
4. No. 9 – Chase Elliott – 86.772mph
5. No. 48 – Alex Bowman – 86.636mph
6. No. 19 – Martin Truex Jr. – 86.635mph
7. No. 24 – William Byron – 86.616mph
8. No. 1 – Kurt Busch – 86.585mph
9. No. 18 – Kyle Busch – 86.553mph
10. No. 12 – Ryan Blaney – 86.509mph

Most Laps Run:

1. No. 11 – Denny Hamlin – 80 Laps
2. No. 23 – Bubba Wallace – 78 Laps
3. No. 37 – Ryan Preece – 75 Laps
4. No. 17 – Chris Buescher – 71 Laps
5. No. 22 – Joey Logano – 69 Laps
6. No. 2 – Brad Keselowski – 69 Laps
7. No. 12 – Ryan Blaney – 67 Laps
8. No. 34 – Michael McDowell – 67 Laps
9. No. 4 – Kevin Harvick – 67 Laps
10. No. 19 – Martin Truex Jr. – 66 Laps

NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice Incident Tracker / Log:

1. 44:30 – Cole Custer (No. 41) spins in Turn Four.
2. 50:00 – End of NASCAR Cup Series Final Practice

Video / Picture Highlights:

After some engine issues in final practice, Kyle Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports team will have to change the engine in his No. 5 Freightliner Chevrolet Camaro before the heat races and feature race, meaning Larson wil have to start at the rear for his heat and the main event.

"Not sure what's wrong … hope we don't have to change it."

We talk with Kyle Larson as his team checks the engine following a spike in water temperature during final Cup practice at Bristol. pic.twitter.com/hileMKN6oy

— Jamie Little (@JamieLittleTV) March 26, 2021

Cole Custer spun his No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang in the final practice session for the NASCAR Cup Series, but kept it off of the wall and was able to continue.

A bit too sideways that time. @ColeCuster | #ItsDirtBaby pic.twitter.com/8hWkKem3SP

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 26, 2021