LEBANON, Tenn. – The beat rolled on for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series Saturday afternoon, as Kyle Larson and William Byron paced practice for the inaugural Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
With mock qualifying runs late in the 50-minute session, Larson and Byron both toured the 1.33-mile concrete oval in 29.724 seconds (161.082 mph) with their Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LEs, tying atop the single-lap speed charts and leading a 39-car field.
PRACTICE RESULTS: Cup Series Ally 400
Larson held the edge in the 10-lap average category, however, with a time of 30.403 seconds over a 10-lap run during the lone practice in the Cup Series’ return to the Music City.
Sunday marks the first race for NASCAR’s premier division in the Nashville, Tenn., metro area since 1984.
Third-placed Chase Elliott (29.735/161.022) made it a top-three sweep for Rick Hendrick’s team in Cup Series practice, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain following as part of a Chevrolet lockout of the top-seven positions.
Denny Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 was the fastest Toyota Camry in eighth, with Ryan Newman’s Roush Fenway Racing Ford Mustang leading the Blue Oval contingent with the ninth-best lap.
Alex Bowman, carrying the race’s entitlement sponsor aboard his No. 48 Chevrolet, closed the top 10.
Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, two drivers who have past Nashville experience in other divisions, were 21st and 22nd, respectively, on the practice charts Saturday.
Qualifying for the Ally 400 is slated for 11 a.m. ET Sunday morning, with live coverage on NBCSN, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90. The race goes green at 3:30 p.m.