Chase Elliott leads NASCAR Cup practice at Darlington

The top five speeds from Saturday practice all came from the first 20-minute session with Chase Elliott leading the way with an average lap speed of 168.232 mph in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Erik Jones, driving the No. 43 for Legacy Motor Club, ended up second-fastest (167.653 mph) and William Byron, in Hendrick’s No. 24 Chevrolet, was third (167.550 mph).

Tyler Reddick was fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five. Kyle Busch was fastest in the second, 20-minute session.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Byron had the fastest average lap speed (163.704 mph). Elliott and Bubba Wallace were second and third, respectively, in that category.

In practice, Cup teams had the first opportunity to run on a different tire setup than they did last season at Darlington. Goodyear made construction updates on both the left and right-side tires.

Group A

Elliott led the way in the first 20-minute session and set a blistering pace with an average lap speed of 168.232 mph.

Jones ended up second-fastest (167.653 mph) while Byron was third (167.550 mph).

Reddick and Stenhouse rounded out the top five.

Austin Cindric spun in Turns 3 and 4 trying to get to pit road in the final minute of the session but did not appear to do any damage to his No. 2 Penske Ford.

Group B

Busch topped the second session with an average lap speed of 165.464 mph in his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Brad Keselowski was second-fastest (165.280 mph) and Ryan Blaney was third (165.064 mph).

Todd Gilliland and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five.

In the final minutes of the session, Kyle Larson scrubbed the wall but did not appear to do serious damage to his No. 5 Chevrolet.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	31	29.231			168.232
2	43	Erik Jones		Chevrolet	21	29.332	0.101	0.101	167.653
3	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	23	29.350	0.119	0.018	167.550
4	45	Tyler Reddick		Toyota	31	29.376	0.145	0.026	167.402
5	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet	30	29.447	0.216	0.071	166.998
6	23	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	25	29.512	0.281	0.065	166.631
7	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	28	29.578	0.347	0.066	166.259
8	16	A.J. Allmendinger		Chevrolet	13	29.611	0.380	0.033	166.073
9	1	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	30	29.658	0.427	0.047	165.810
10	7	Corey Lajoie		Chevrolet	27	29.668	0.437	0.010	165.754
11	17	Chris Buescher		Ford	33	29.697	0.466	0.029	165.592
12	8	Kyle Busch		Chevrolet	34	29.720	0.489	0.023	165.464
13	6	Brad Keselowski		Ford	26	29.753	0.522	0.033	165.281
14	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	34	29.792	0.561	0.039	165.064
15	38	Todd Gilliland		Ford	32	29.797	0.566	0.005	165.037
16	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	23	29.815	0.584	0.018	164.937
17	2	Austin Cindric		Ford	30	29.820	0.589	0.005	164.909
18	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	29	29.821	0.590	0.001	164.904
19	22	Joey Logano		Ford	27	29.821	0.590	0.000	164.904
20	54	Ty Gibbs		Toyota	31	29.834	0.603	0.013	164.832
21	14	Chase Briscoe		Ford	34	29.868	0.637	0.034	164.644
22	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	31	29.889	0.658	0.021	164.529
23	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	30	29.898	0.667	0.009	164.479
24	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	23	29.932	0.701	0.034	164.292
25	5	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	31	29.956	0.725	0.024	164.161
26	21	Harrison Burton		Ford	26	29.974	0.743	0.018	164.062
27	48	Josh Berry		Chevrolet	32	29.975	0.744	0.001	164.057
28	77	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	23	29.977	0.746	0.002	164.046
29	41	Ryan Preece		Ford	34	29.979	0.748	0.002	164.035
30	31	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	29	30.028	0.797	0.049	163.767
31	99	Daniel Suarez		Chevrolet	32	30.049	0.818	0.021	163.653
32	42	Noah Gragson		Chevrolet	17	30.156	0.925	0.107	163.072
33	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	35	30.175	0.944	0.019	162.969
34	51	Ryan Newman		Ford	18	30.406	1.175	0.231	161.731
35	78	B.J. McLeod		Chevrolet	13	30.573	1.342	0.167	160.848
36	15	Brennan Poole		Ford	16	30.584	1.353	0.011	160.790