AUSTIN, Texas – Kyle Larson led the way for Hendrick Motorsports in Friday’s NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Larson’s lap of 92.618 mph in the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 placed him second on the speed chart for the 50-minute session. The 2021 Cup Series champion finished as the runner-up to teammate Chase Elliott in the inaugural premier series race here in 2021.
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Due to wet weather earlier in the day, the start of practice was delayed 30 minutes for track drying to continue. The full practice will be broadcast tape delayed on FS1 on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
Getting ready for his Cup Series debut, Jordan Taylor finished 10th in practice in the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Taylor is filling in for the sidelined Elliott this weekend as the 2020 Cup Series champion continues his recovery from surgery for a fractured tibia. Elliott will be part of the FOX broadcast during a portion of Sunday's race.
Taylor has a very impressive road racing resume. He currently competes for Corvette Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and is a 31-time IMSA Class winner. Taylor is a four-time IMSA champion, a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner in 2015 (in the LMGTE Pro class) and a two-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of DAYTONA in 2017 and 2019. His 2017 overall 24 Hours of DAYTONA win came with Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon as one of his teammates.
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William Byron placed 16th in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, while Alex Bowman was 20th in the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro. Byron will be logging extra seat time around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course this weekend in the team’s No. 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series entry (Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio-Channel 90). In two Cup Series starts, he has an average finish of 11.5 at this track.
Bowman was set to compete with Spire Motorsports in the outfit’s No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race but suffered a flat tire in qualifying and did not make the race. He was the runner-up finisher in the Cup Series race last year and contended for the win in the 2022 Truck Series race as well.
Tyler Reddick was the fastest driver in all of practice. The 50-minute practice session came as this is the first road course race to use the rules package designed to have a decrease in downforce on most short ovals and road courses. This rules package made its debut two weeks ago at Phoenix Raceway, where Byron scored his second straight win of the season.
At 26 wins, Hendrick Motorsports has the most all-time triumphs on road courses in Cup Series history. Since their inaugural season in 1984, the organization has won 28.57% of road course events (26 wins in 91 races). The team also tops the board among Cup Series teams on road courses in poles (24), top-five finishes (80), top-10s (138), laps led (2,172) and stage wins (13).
Seven different drivers have accounted for the 26 road course wins in team history and those seven winners are the most for a Cup Series team on road courses. Jeff Gordon leads the way for the team with nine victories (which are also the most among all drivers) followed by Elliott with seven and Larson has four. Tim Richmond had three wins followed by Jimmie Johnson, Geoff Bodine and Ricky Rudd with one victory apiece.
PHOTOS: See every road course win in the history of Hendrick Motorsports
Qualifying will take place at 11:30 a.m. ET on FS1 on Saturday. The 68-lap race will happen on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).