Larson, Bell Lead Xfinity Practices at Bristol

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – In advance of Friday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway the drivers and teams of the second tier prepared on Thursday. The two practice sessions were without incident as teams prepped for the Food City 300.

In the first practice session, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Kyle Larson ended the session on top with a 15.442 second, 124.259 mph lap. Larson outpaced fellow Premier Series driver Kyle Busch by 0.032 seconds. Christopher Bell was the fastest Xfinity Series regular in third.

Rounding out the top five in the session was Cup driver Joey Logano and Xfinity Series regular Daniel Hemric. Chase Elliott, Elliott Sadler, Cole Custer, Austin Cindric, and Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-10.

Other notables included Brandon Jones in 11^th, Matt Tifft and Tyler Reddick in 13^th and 14^th, Ross Chastain in 16^th, and Ryan Truex in 17^th.

After a two-and-a-half-hour break, Xfinity teams returned to the track with Bell taking the top spot with a 15.603 second, 122.976 mph lap. Larson was second fastest with Busch in third.

Jones and Hemric rounded out the top five, followed by Elliott, Custer, Allgaier, Logano, and Reddick rounding out the top-10.

Other notables in the second session included Cindric and Sadler in 11^th and 12^th, Tifft in 14^th, Truex in 16^th, and Chastain 19^th.

With practice complete, the next time that the NASCAR Xfinity Series cars will hit the track will be Friday, at 3:40 p.m. for knockout qualifying which will set the field for the Food City 300. The race is just one of five remaining races in the regular season for the Xfinity Series.