Bell tops final NASCAR practice at North Wilkesboro

Christopher Bell was fastest in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Bell topped the board with a lap of 123.477 mph (18.222s). He won at North Wilkesboro Speedway last year when it was a 200-lap All-Star Race.

Denny Hamlin was the second fastest in practice. Hamlin’s fast lap was 123.382 mph.

Ross Chastain was third fastest (123.065 mph), William Byron was fourth fastest (122.817 mph), and Chase Elliott completed the top five (122.810 mph).

Ty Gibbs was sixth fastest (122.803 mph), Kyle Larson was seventh fastest (122.763 mph), and Josh Berry (122.750 mph) was eighth fastest. Joey Logano was ninth fastest (122.622 mph), and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10 (122.522 mph).

The polesitter, Ryan Blaney, was 11th fastest.

Tyler Reddick was the 31st fastest in practice. Reddick is chasing Hamlin for the top seed in the Chase.

The most laps run in practice were 80 by Logano. He, too, has won at North Wilkesboro in the All-Star Race.

There were no incidents in the 50-minute session. NASCAR opted to give the teams open track time in lieu of qualifying after a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area, disrupting the schedule.

Bell was also the fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average. It was Bell over Byron, Larson, Hamlin and Blaney.

There are 37 drivers entered in Sunday’s race. Chad Finchum with Garage 66 is the Open entry.

NEXT: The Window World 450 at 7 p.m. ET Sunday.

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