Hendrick duo lead Cup Series practice at Vegas

William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson were the fastest in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron (C) led the way with a lap of 182.235 mph (29.632 seconds). Larson (C), meanwhile, ran a fast lap of 181.837 mph.

Denny Hamlin (C) was third-fastest at 181.446 mph, Chase (C) was fourth-fastest at 181.403 mph, and Daniel Suarez (C) was fifth-fastest at 181.305 mph. AJ Allmendinger was the fastest non-championship-eligible driver, in sixth at 180.808 mph.

Tyler Reddick (C) was seventh fastest at 180.741 mph, Carson Hocevar (C) was eighth fastest at 180.650 mph, and Ross Chastain was ninth fastest at 180.361 mph.

Christopher Bell (C) completed the top 10 in practice at 180.325 mph.

The rest of the Chase drivers in practice were Ty Gibbs in 11th, Chris Buescher in 12th, Chase Elliott in 13th, and Ryan Blaney in 14th. Further back, Bubba Wallace was 16th, Joey Logano was 23rd, Austin Cindric was 28th, and Ryan Preece was 32nd.

Hamlin is the defending race winner in Las Vegas. He enters the weekend sitting 26 points behind Larson for the championship lead.

Three incidents occurred during the 50-minute session.

Reddick had a left-rear tire go down early in practice and needed assistance back to pit road. Josh Berry and Noah Gragson were not as lucky, as both crashed their primary cars. Berry did so in Turn 2, and Gragson in a similar area on the racetrack.

There are 36 teams entered in the South Point 400.

Sunday is the halfway point in the Chase, the fifth race.

RESULTS