Gibbs duo paces Cup Series practice in Vegas

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin paced the NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday morning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Bell topped the board at 184.062 mph (29.338s). The driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing has routinely been a contender in Las Vegas, with some disappointing losses, but is still seeking his first win at the facility.

Hamlin was second fastest at 183.436 mph. He won the most recent race in Las Vegas in the fall.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third fastest at 183.299 mph, Bubba Wallace was fourth fastest at 183.175 mph, and John Hunter Nemechek was fifth fastest at 183.069 mph. Noah Gragson was sixth fastest at 182.568 mph, and William Byron was seventh fastest at 182.537 mph.

Kyle Larson was eighth fastest in practice at 182.494 mph, and Carson Hocevar was ninth fastest at 182.451. Tyler Reddick, the Cup Series point leader, completed the top 10 at 182.402 mph.

Justin Allgaier was 11th fastest in practice. Allgaier is driving the No. 48 for Hendrick Motorsports as Alex Bowman continues to recover from a vertigo diagnosis.

Kyle Busch was 12th fastest with Ty Gibbs at 13th on the board, and Chase Briscoe was 14th fastest. Chris Buescher was 18th fastest, Ryan Preece was 21st, and Ross Chastain was 22nd. Brad Keselowski was 24th fastest, and Shane van Gisbergen was 25th fastest.

Josh Berry, the defending race winner, was 29th fastest in practice.

Chase Elliott was 30th fastest, while Connor Zilisch was 31st, Ryan Blaney was 33rd, and Joey Logano was 35th.

There were no significant incidents in the session. However, one team, Ty Dillon of Kaulig Racing, did not get on track because of inspection issues.

Dillon’s car was one of four that failed inspection twice. The others were Austin Cindric's, AJ Allmendinger's, and William Byron's cars. All four teams have lost pit stall selection for Sunday’s race, and their respective car chiefs were ejected.

Denny Hamlin was fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average. It was Hamlin ahead of Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, and Ty Gibbs.