Byron leads Cup Series practice at Loudon

William Byron led NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which saw only three playoff drivers inside the top 10.

Byron (P) clocked in with the fastest lap at 127.834mph (29.795s). He ran a total of 43 laps in practice.

AJ Allmendinger was second fastest at 127.645mph, Ryan Preece was third at 127.483mph, Riley Herbst fourth at 127.402mph and Cole Custer completed the top five at 127.380mph.

Ryan Blaney (P) was sixth fastest at 127.274mph. Blaney, however, showed the best long-run pace in the best 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 lap averages.

Bubba Wallace (P) was seventh at 127.210mph, Ty Gibbs eighth at 127.206mph, Michael McDowell ninth at 127.159mph and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top 10 at 127.138mph.

The remaining playoff drivers in practice were Kyle Larson in 16th, Tyler Reddick in 18th, Chase Elliott in 20th, Christopher Bell in 21st and Joey Logano at 25th. Further back, Chase Briscoe came in 26th, Austin Cindric 27th and Ross Chastain 30th.

Byron was second best to Blaney in the best 10 consecutive lap average. The last time Hendrick Motorsports won at New Hampshire was in 2012.

Christopher Bell is the defending winner at New Hampshire. The 2024 race, however, was not in the playoffs.

There were no incidents in the session.

Sunday will see 36 teams take the green flag in the Mobil 1 301.