SONOMA, Calif. – Kyle Larson and the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro topped the NASCAR Xfinity Series practice session at Sonoma Raceway.
Friday's practice marked the first track time for the No. 17 team since William Byron drove the car at Circuit of The Americas in late March. Right away, Larson laid down the fastest lap of the session.
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After two separate caution flags early in the session, the red flag was displayed for an incident near the start/finish line. Practice was delayed for all entries as NASCAR officials worked to replace the safety equipment on the circuit. By the time Larson was able to go back out on the track, roughly 10 minutes remained. Due to the extensive repair time, officials added five minutes to the scheduled session.
Prior to heading back out, crew chief Kevin Meendering had the team put on fresh tires. Despite 36 of the 41 entries being on the racing surface at the same time, Larson posted a new top mark for the session at 79.255 seconds (90.392 mph) -- over a full second faster than second place in practice.
In his career, the 30-year-old driver from Elk Grove, California, has earned 14 victories in the Xfinity Series, including his most recent triumph at Darlington Raceway (with Kaulig Racing). Larson is also slated to run at Darlington in the No. 17 Chevy on Sept. 2 -- one of four races for the No. 17 entry in 2023.
Tomorrow, the Xfinity Series will have qualifying and later race at Northern California road course. Catch the qualifying session at 3 p.m. ET on FS1, where Larson will be in Group B. After setting the starting lineup, the series will go green for 79 laps beginning at 8 p.m. ET with coverage on FS1, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
