Ryan Blaney leads NASCAR Cup Series practice at Bristol

Sunday’s race will be the first in the spring on the asphalt surface at Bristol since 2020. The spring race has been run on dirt the past three seasons, with Christopher Bell the most recent winner last year.

Blaney, who currently leads the series points standings, topped the speed chart with an average lap speed of 127.681 mph. The top three overall speeds were from the first 20-minute group, with Blaney followed by Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace.

Harrison Burton led the way in Group B with an average lap speed of 125.215 mph.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Blaney had the best average speed (125.713 mph) followed by Ross Chastain and Wallace.

Group B

Burton was the surprise leader in the Group B session with an average lap speed of 125.215 mph.

Chase Elliott was second fastest (124.654 mph) and Kyle Larson was third (124.654 mph).

Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five.

In the opening minutes of the session, Ty Gibbs shot up the track in Turn 2 and hit the wall, bringing out a brief caution. The team made repairs to his No. 54 Toyota and he was able to return to the track before the conclusion of practice.

Group A

Blaney got off to a quick start in practice and went right to top of the speed chart with an average lap speed of 127.681 mph.

Busch was second quick at 126.988 mph while Wallace ended up third (126.921 mph).

Chastain ended up fourth and Blaney’s Penske teaMMAte, Joey Logano, rounded out the top five.