Denny Hamlin fastest in NASCAR Cup practice at Kansas

Hamlin, in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, topped the speed chart with an average lap speed of 174.887 in the second 20-minute session.

Austin Cindric ended up second-fastest (174.531 mph) and Kyle Busch was third (174.300 mph). The top three all came from the second session.

Joey Logano was fourth and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-five. Both drivers came from the first session.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Hamlin had the fastest average speed (173.363 mph). Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Group A

Logano was fastest in the first 20-minute session, with an average lap speed of 174.261 mph.

Wallace, who won here last fall, ended up second (174.176 mph) and Suarez was third (173.510 mph).

Erik Jones and William Byron rounded out the top five.

About six minutes into the session, Byron tagged the wall, doing some minor damage to his No. 24 Chevrolet. After some quick repairs, Byron returned to the track.

With one minute remaining, Josh Bilicki spun off Turn 2 and hit the wall with his No. 78 Chevrolet, which brought an early end to the session.

Issues for the No. 78 during Cup Series Group A practice. pic.twitter.com/tIuZrQUvoz

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 6, 2023

Group B

Hamlin was among the first on the track in the second 20-minute session and posted his fast lap of 174.887 mph.

Cindric was second and Busch third. Bell and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five.

In the final moments of the session, Corey LaJoie appeared to get loose on the track and quickly dived down pit road.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	29	30.877			174.887
2	2	Austin Cindric		Ford	15	30.940	0.063	0.063	174.531
3	8	Kyle Busch		Chevrolet	21	30.981	0.104	0.041	174.300
4	22	Joey Logano		Ford	6	30.988	0.111	0.007	174.261
5	23	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	22	31.003	0.126	0.015	174.177
6	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	18	31.007	0.130	0.004	174.154
7	5	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	24	31.035	0.158	0.028	173.997
8	45	Tyler Reddick		Toyota	24	31.037	0.160	0.002	173.986
9	1	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	20	31.078	0.201	0.041	173.756
10	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	23	31.089	0.212	0.011	173.695
11	21	Harrison Burton		Ford	16	31.099	0.222	0.010	173.639
12	17	Chris Buescher		Ford	22	31.109	0.232	0.010	173.583
13	99	Daniel Suarez		Chevrolet	33	31.122	0.245	0.013	173.511
14	7	Corey Lajoie		Chevrolet	19	31.122	0.245	0.000	173.511
15	43	Erik Jones		Chevrolet	14	31.138	0.261	0.016	173.422
16	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	18	31.151	0.274	0.013	173.349
17	38	Todd Gilliland		Ford	16	31.175	0.298	0.024	173.216
18	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	18	31.191	0.314	0.016	173.127
19	54	Ty Gibbs		Toyota	29	31.202	0.325	0.011	173.066
20	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	19	31.207	0.330	0.005	173.038
21	77	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	20	31.247	0.370	0.040	172.817
22	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	20	31.250	0.373	0.003	172.800
23	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	21	31.253	0.376	0.003	172.783
24	42	Noah Gragson		Chevrolet	23	31.270	0.393	0.017	172.689
25	48	Josh Berry		Chevrolet	20	31.287	0.410	0.017	172.596
26	16	A.J. Allmendinger		Chevrolet	18	31.292	0.415	0.005	172.568
27	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	17	31.336	0.459	0.044	172.326
28	31	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	14	31.365	0.488	0.029	172.166
29	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	20	31.391	0.514	0.026	172.024
30	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet	13	31.410	0.533	0.019	171.920
31	6	Brad Keselowski		Ford	15	31.483	0.606	0.073	171.521
32	14	Chase Briscoe		Ford	10	31.616	0.739	0.133	170.800
33	41	Ryan Preece		Ford	17	31.751	0.874	0.135	170.073
34	15	Brennan Poole		Ford	9	31.926	1.049	0.175	169.141
35	51	J.J. Yeley		Ford	16	31.929	1.052	0.003	169.125
36	78	Josh Bilicki		Chevrolet	15	32.528	1.651	0.599	166.011