AVONDALE, Ariz. – Chase Elliott topped the board for the Hendrick Motorsports quartet in Friday's practice NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway.
Elliott's lap of 27.534 seconds (130.747 mph) in the No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 placed him seventh in the session and the highest Chevrolet on the board. The 28-year-old driver placed eighth on the 15-consecutive lap average chart. In 15 starts at Phoenix, Elliott has one win (the 2020 championship race), five top-five finishes, eight top-10s and his 546 laps led are the second-most he's been out front at an active track on the schedule.
"We certainly have room to improve, but I thought we made it better," Elliott said of his No. 9 Chevy. "I like some of the characteristics that we were able to adjust on, which is always encouraging anytime you start practice and you start changing things."
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Alex Bowman took 11th in the No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. This weekend's race is at the 30-year-old Tucson, Arizona, native's home track on the circuit. In 17 starts at the 1-mile venue, he has two top-10 finishes, with a best result of sixth coming in 2016. In that event, Bowman started from the pole and led 194 laps while subbing for the sidelined Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Behind the wheel of the No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Kyle Larson placed 20th in practice. However, on the 20-consecutive lap average chart, the 31-year-old driver was seventh. In 19 starts at Phoenix, Larson has one win (the 2021 championship race), eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10s – the latter two marks are tied for his most at any one track. Since coming to Hendrick Motorsports, he has finished outside the top 10 in one of six starts at Phoenix.
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Fresh off a dominating win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he led 181 laps and swept the stages, Larson and the No. 5 team are looking to keep up the momentum.
"Phoenix (Raceway) has been a pretty decent track for our team the last few years since I've been with Hendrick Motorsports," Larson said during a pre-practice media availability. "We qualify well, so hopefully that all goes well tomorrow – get a good start up front, get good stage points, and just keep executing. Our team has done a really good job this year of executing with the race cars we bring. Our pit crew has been doing a great job. It takes everything to be upfront and I think that's how we can continue our momentum. Just continue doing what we've been doing and keep ourselves in the hunt."
William Byron placed 24th in practice in the No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The 26-year-old driver is the defending race winner with two top-five finishes and seven top-10s in 12 starts at the Avondale, Arizona, facility. The 2024 DAYTONA 500 winner felt his best run came at the end of practice. Byron is pulling double duty this weekend as he will drive the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Phoenix on Saturday afternoon.
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Cup Series teams had an extended practice of 50 minutes at Phoenix, as this is the first race in which the 2024 short-track package will be on track. The package includes 2023 short track/road course splitter stuffers, no engine panel strakes, a three-inch spoiler (was previously two inches), a simplified diffuser and simplified diffuser strakes. This will be used at all upcoming tracks 1 mile or shorter as well as road courses, except Bristol Motor Speedway and Dover Motor Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports has a series-best 13 wins among nine drivers at Phoenix. Jimmie Johnson tops the board with four and Gordon is next with two victories. Kyle Busch, Byron, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott, Terry Labonte, Larson and Mark Martin have each tallied one triumph at the 1-mile track for the team. The organization also leads the way in poles (15), top-five team'ses (56), top-10s (102) and laps led (3,530) at the Arizona venue. The team's six straight wins at Phoenix from 2007 to 2009 are the longest such streak for the organization and the third-longesyear'sak (of one team winning at one track) in Cup Series history.
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In last year's spring race at Phoenix, the Rick Hendrick-owned team dominated the event, winning and leading 265 of the 317 laps run. Byron notched the victory as he got the better of Larson in an overtime finish. Larson scored the pole position and led a race-high 201 laps. In addition, Bowman and Josh Berry (filling in for an injured Elliott) notched top-10 finishes as all four cars placed in the top 10. This was the 28th and most recent time the team had all four drivers finish in the top 10 of a race.
The quartet of Hendrick Motorsports drivers will next be on track on Saturday for qualifying at 2:10 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90). Sunday’s race of 312 laps will take place at 3:30 p.m. on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).