NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron led the way for the organization in Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Nashville Superspeedway.
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The 50-minute session saw Larson place fourth with a fast lap of 160.418 mph in the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Byron rounded out the top five with a best lap of 160.391 mph in the No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Alex Bowman finished practice in 15th, while Chase Elliott was 18th.
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Larson is the defending race winner of this race as he led 264 of 300 laps to win the first Cup event at the 1.33-mile track. Byron finished third in last year’s race on the concrete oval. Both drivers also placed in the top six of the 10-lap averages on Friday with Larson finishing second and Byron coming in sixth in that category.
Practice was led by Bubba Wallace as the series prepared for its 17th race of the season.
This weekend marks the first of four races that will see Kevin Meendering filling in as the crew chief for Larson and the No. 5 team. Crew chief Cliff Daniels, jackman Brandon Johnson and front-tire changer Donnie Tasser were suspended by NASCAR after the team inadvertently lost its right-front tire during the final stage of the Cup race at Sonoma Raceway. On the pit crew side of things, Allen Holman will fill in as the jackman on the No. 5 team and Blaine Anderson will take front-tire changer duties.
Earlier this week, Valvoline announced a five-year extension of its partnership with Hendrick Motorsports. That deal will see Official Lubricants Partner of Hendrick Motorsports serve as the primary sponsor for three races with Larson and two races for Byron. For 2022, the company added a sixth primary race with its sponsorship of the No. 24 for this weekend's event at Nashville.
Cars will next be on track for group qualifying at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday on USA Network. The Ally 400 will take place on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET on NBC with coverage also on Peacock, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.