Brad Keselowski topped the speed charts in the lone NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway in his final weekend driving for Team Penske in the No. 2 Ford. Keselowski posted a fast lap of 135.384 mph in the session, a week after being eliminated from playoff contention in the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Kyle Larson led the way among the Championship 4 drivers as he came in second in the session in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a fast lap of 135.293 mph. As for the rest of the Championship 4: Chase Elliott was fifth (135.019 mph) in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin was eighth (134.118 mph) in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and Martin Truex Jr. was 18th-fastest (133.427 mph).
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Of note, Truex was the lowest-ranked of the four Championship 4 drivers and of the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. Elliott ran the most laps in practice among this foursome with 50 laps, then Larson at 46, Hamlin at 43 and Truex at 32.
Matt DiBenedetto came in third in his final weekend in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford (135.11 mph) while Christopher Bell placed fourth in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (135.084 mph).
A caution came out in the opening minutes for fluid coming out from underneath the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford of BJ McLeod.
Friday’s 50-minute practice session was the lone practice time this weekend for the Cup Series field and the first practice time since the mid-August race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
Qualifying will take place on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC/NBC Sports App to set the lineup for Sunday’s championship race (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App/Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).