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Bubba Wallace tops the charts in Nashville Cup practice
Bubba Wallace's lap at 161.708 mph was fastest in Friday's Cup practice at Nashville Superspeedway ahead of Sunday's race (5 p.m. ET, NBC).
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Bubba Wallace returned from the NASCAR Cup Series’ off week with plenty of speed.
The No. 23 Toyota topped the leaderboard at 161.708 mph in Friday’s 50-minute practice session at Nashville Superspeedway ahead of Sunday’s Ally 400 (5 p.m. ET, NBC, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Just behind Wallace was fellow Toyota driver Kyle Busch at 160.936 mph, proving a strong rebound for the manufacturer after disappointing results at Sonoma Raceway on June 12 left Kurt Busch the highest-finishing Toyota in 18th place.
Each of the six Toyotas entered in this weekend’s race — two from 23XI Racing and four from Joe Gibbs Racing — posted laps within the top 11 positions. Kurt Busch was sixth (160.107 mph), Denny Hamlin ninth (159.941 mph), Martin Truex Jr. 10th (159.792 mph) and Christopher Bell 11th (159.760 mph)
Completing the top five on Friday evening were Tyler Reddick (160.456 mph), Kyle Larson (160.418 mph) and William Byron (160.391 mph).
In eighth place, Ryan Blaney (160.043 mph) was the quickest Ford in the session. The next best Blue Oval was Chase Briscoe back in 16th (159.488 mph).
Past champions and fellow Ford pilots Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski struggled to find speed at the 1.33-mile concrete oval, which hosts NASCAR’s premier series for just the second time. Harvick was 29th-quickest at 158.187 mph while Keselowski was 33rd of 36 drivers at 156.042 mph.
Qualifying for Sunday’s Ally 400 kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday (USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).