Bell tops Cup Series practice at Indy

Christopher Bell was fastest in the extended Friday practice session for NASCAR Cup Series teams ahead of the Brickyard 400. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver topped the board with a fast lap of 183.512 mph (49.043 seconds).

“It feels good,” Bell said. “But I’m very cautiously optimistic because this practice session went a lot like North Wilkesboro did, too, and the race went terribly.

"I’m really proud of my team; they’re bringing great cars to the track, and it shows that our prep process is doing well. We’ve just got to hopefully put the whole weekend together, and we’re off to a good start.”

John Hunter Nemechek jumped to second fastest at the end of the session. His fast lap was 183.180 mph.

Ty Gibbs was third fastest (183.102 mph), Erik Jones was fourth (182.830 mph), and point leader Denny Hamlin was fifth fastest (182.697 mph). Indianapolis is the only crown jewel race that Hamlin has not won.

Kyle Larson was sixth fastest (182.634 mph), Carson Hocevar was seventh (182.626 mph), and Tyler Reddick was eighth (182.611 mph). Ryan Blaney was ninth fastest (182.526 mph), and Daniel Suarez was 10th (182.245 mph). Bubba Wallace, the defending race winner, was 20th.

There were no significant incidents although. Ryan Preece did suffer a flat left-rear tire and had to limp his RFK Racing Ford back to the garage. Austin Cindric’s team from Team Penske spent much of the session trying to diagnose and fix a power issue in his Ford.

There are 39 teams entered at Indianapolis. The Open entries are Casey Mears with Beard Motorsports, Corey Heim with 23XI Racing, and Daniel Dye with Live Fast Motorsports.

Larson was fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average. Larson led Gibbs, Byron, Buescher, and Hamlin.

Cup Series qualifying is next up at 1:30pm ET Saturday.