Reddick tops Cup Series practice at Michigan

Tyler Reddick was fastest in a NASCAR Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway that saw multiple teams suffer flat tires.

Reddick topped the board at 192.622 mph (37.379 seconds). He ran a total of 19 laps.

Chase Elliott and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson were second and third fastest in practice. Elliott clocked in at 192.200 mph, and Larson’s best lap was 191.403 mph.

Chris Buescher was fourth fastest at 191.367 mph, and Denny Hamlin completed the top five at 191.342 mph. Hamlin is the defending race winner.

However, Hamlin was also one of four drivers who had a flat tire. It was a flat left rear on Hamlin’s car. The same for Austin Cindric and Erik Jones.

It was a flat left front for Christopher Bell.

Ross Chastain was the sixth fastest at 191.200 mph, Bubba Wallace was seventh fastest at 191.139 mph, and William Byron was eighth fastest at 191.037 mph. Ryan Blaney was ninth fastest at 190.946 mph. Carson Hocevar rounded out the top 10 at 190.819 mph.

“We certainly did,” said Reddick of getting his 23XI Racing car better throughout the session. “When you have a car as fast as our Rockstar Energy Toyota Camry, you want to go out there and rip laps. We felt good about our pace and everything that Billy [Scott, crew chief] was good coming in and making a couple adjustments if you will. In the first one, we weren’t really happy with it, but we were very happy with what it did for me on the second one.

“It’s always good when you have a really fast car. It’s like, hey, we can make it drive better. I know everyone else probably wants to hear that, but we love hearing that. So, we’re really happy with the Rockstar Energy Toyota Camry today. Every time we come here to Michigan, we’re really fast. We won here in 2024, and I kind of threw it away last year. We’re hungry to get back to victory lane; it’s been a minute. We’ve all kind of been telling ourselves, ‘Hey, we’ve won five races, and all that’s great, but it’s been a minute, and we need to win again.’”

Aside from the flat tires, there were no significant incidents in practice.

Reddick was also the fastest in the best five and 10 consecutive lap average. William Byron was the fastest in the best 15-lap average

There are 37 teams entered in the FireKeepers Casino 400. JJ Yeley is the only Open driver.

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