Gateway NASCAR Cup: Penske drivers top Saturday practice

Due to the impending bad weather, NASCAR had all cars participate in one 30-minute practice session, which was interupted once due to drizzle.

Logano, who won the inaugural Cup race at the 1.25-mile oval neat St. Louis, had the fastest average lap speed at 138.024 mph.

Logano could use a strong run on Sunday – and especially a win – to get his season back on track.

The two-time series champion is 17th in the series standings with just one top five and three top-10 finishes. He did, however, win the $1 million NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro last month.

“We definitely got a lot of speed,” Logano said. “It feels pretty good inside the car. That’s the best feeling, right, when it drives good and it feels good. You got speed in it.

“For whatever reason, this has been one of our better race tracks for Penske in general.”

Blaney, the reigning series champion and also looking for his first win this season, was second quick at 138.019 mph.

Ty Gibbs, who won the pole last weekend at Charlotte, was third (137.922 mph) followed by 23XI Racing teaMMAtes Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace.

Completing the top-10 were Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, last weekend’s race winner Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell and Martin Truex Jr.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Logano had the best average lap speed (136.274 mph). Cindric and Blaney were second and third, respectively, in that category.