Chastain tops Las Vegas Cup practice; Elliott and Suarez wreck

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Sportem
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Chastain, who ran in the second group, topped the speed chart with an average lap speed of 186.857 mph. Chastain was among the four drivers eliminated from further playoff contention following last weekend’s race at the Charlotte Roval.

Chris Buecher, also in the second group and still in the playoff hunt, ended up second fastest (186.638 mph).

Tyler Reddick was third quick overall and led the first group at 185.956 mph. Reddick also remains in the hunt for the series championship.

Among the drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Kyle Larson had the best average lap speed (183.975 mph). William Byron and Reddick were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Group A

Reddick ended up fastest in the first 20-minute session with an average lap speed of 185.956 mph.

Elliott was second-quick at 185.458 mph while Hocevar was third (185.274 mph).

Playoff drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.

About nine minutes into the session, Elliott appeared to have a tire go down, spun through Turn 4 and hit the wall with the right-side of his No. 9 Chevrolet.

 

Elliott will move to a backup car and have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field. “Definitely a bummer but it’s kind of been like that all year,” Elliott said.

On the same lap, Elliott’s teammate, Larson, complained of a possible tire going down as well and immediately returned to pit road.

“I felt a vibration off (Turn) 2, that’s not normal, so I came down pit road,” he said. “Then Chase blew his out and crashed. So, we got lucky.”

Group B

Chastain quickly jumped to the top of the chart in the second group with an average lap speed of 186.857 mph.

Buescher ended up second fastest at 186.638 mph while Byron was third (185.401 mph).

Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five.

About halfway through the session, Byron reported a “little vibration” and brought his No. 24 Chevrolet to pit road to his team could assess his tire wear.

In the final minutes of the session, Daniel Suarez had a tire go down, spun off Turn 2 and hit the inside wall, doing extensive damage to his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.

 

Suarez will move to a backup car and will also have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.

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