Byron leads Cup practice at Texas

William Byron was fastest in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. Byron led the way in his Chevrolet at 189.294 mph (28.527s).

“It felt good,” Byron said. “I appreciate our guys just working really hard back at the shop in Concord, and everybody, all their efforts. We’ve been looking to try to get the balance on this car. The Valvoline Chevy, so far, so good. It’s always a little sketchy out there. Texas is always kind of that; it always feels like you’re on the edge. It stinks we have to go out early in qualifying, so hopefully. We can have a decent lap there and have a decent starting spot for tomorrow.”

Michael McDowell was the second-fastest driver in his Spire Motor Speedway Chevrolet. McDowell’s fastest lap was 188.508 mph.

Corey Heim then led a host of Toyota drivers. Heim was third fastest at 188.317 mph, John Hunter Nemechek was fourth fastest at 188.219 mph, and Bubba Wallace was fifth fastest at 188.081 mph.

Erik Jones was sixth fastest at 187.950 mph and Denny Hamlin was seventh fastest at 187.715 mph.

Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10. Cindric was eighth fastest at 187.650 mph, Larson was ninth fastest at 187.480 mph, and Suarez was 10th fastest at187.032 mph.

Wallace’s top-five lap time was only part of the story. After running 21 laps, Wallace crashed near the end of the first session in practice. The back of the car came around on Wallace in Turn 2 and backed into the wall.

“This is Texas, it’s treacherous,” he said. “I was wondering if I got too high, and it looks like I had a decent arch, and felt a little loose, but then it just came around so far. Unfortunate. Our guys have had a really long week getting this Chumba Casino Camry ready, and now I just gave them an even longer day today. So, unfortunate, but we’ll be fine. We’ve got the best group in the garage and (we’ll) work hard tonight and put on a show tomorrow.”

Joey Logano, the defending race winner, was 17th fastest in practice. Carson Hocevar, the most recent winner in the Cup Series, was 22nd.

Kyle Busch was 28th fastest. Busch and his team are now under the guidance of crew chief Andy Street.

Busch’s teammate, meanwhile, did not get much time on track. Austin Dillon pulled into the garage during practice, having completed only three laps, after experiencing something wrong with the engine. Richard Childress Racing will change the engine in Dillon’s Chevrolet, and he will start at the rear of the field.

“We pulled fifth gear getting into Turn 3, and everything sounded good, and I got to the start/finish line and just past the start/finish line the pitch of the motor changed, and when you’re driving at that pace you’re like, well, maybe a gust of wind or something changed in the air. The motor just wouldn’t run. I was wide open through (Turns) 3 and 4, and guys were eating my lunch down the straightaway. I said, ‘Something ain’t right,’ and we came in and sure enough something is wrong.”

Wallace and Dillon will not participate in Cup Series qualifying.