Bobby Travis · NASCAR/IndyCar Correspondent
Ryan Blaney won the Penske in-house battle in the only practice session before the Freeway Insurance 500, while Chase leader Kyle Larson managed only the 13th-fastest time.
Ryan Blaney set the fastest lap in the only practice session before the Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday afternoon. The Team Penske driver topped the session with a lap of 26.969 seconds, ahead of Carson Hocevar of Spire Motorsports and his teammate Joey Logano in second and third. It was the field's only practice before the seventh of ten races in the Chase on the one-mile oval in Avondale, where 312 laps on Sunday will hand out crucial points in the title fight. In the qualifying session that followed, Blaney backed it up and took the pole with a lap of 26.250 seconds, ahead of Logano.
Penske on top, Joe Gibbs Racing close behind
Blaney's best lap held up by 0.029 seconds over Hocevar and 0.046 seconds over Logano, who was just 0.017 seconds behind Hocevar. Over a longer run, the picture changed: Christopher Bell had the best 10-lap average, ahead of Hocevar, Blaney, Josh Berry and Logano.
Behind them, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars bunched up: Denny Hamlin was fourth, 0.117 seconds off Blaney and 0.071 seconds behind Logano. Christopher Bell slotted into fifth, just 0.014 seconds behind Hamlin, followed by Daniel Suárez (Spire Motorsports) in sixth and Ty Gibbs in seventh, only 0.004 seconds behind Suárez. Chase Briscoe rounded out the group of fast JGR cars in eighth, 0.204 seconds off Blaney.
Chase front-runners show mixed form
Compare the names at the top of the practice sheet with the Chase standings heading into the seventh of ten races, and four of the top six are there: Blaney in first, Logano in third, Hamlin in fourth and Bell in fifth. Briscoe, who arrived in Phoenix with plenty of momentum after winning the previous two Chase races at Las Vegas and Charlotte, also turned in a solid lap, the eighth-fastest of the session.
The man at the top of the standings looked far more subdued: Kyle Larson, who leads the championship with 2,367 points according to the standings published before the race, could get no higher than 13th in practice and missed the top ten. His 10-lap average ranked only 12th as well. Within the Hendrick camp, he at least finished 0.023 seconds ahead of teammate William Byron. Practice times naturally say little about the race itself, but with a tight Chase weekend ahead, the gap between Larson's points lead and his long-run pace will likely not have gone unnoticed by his team. Qualifying followed the same pattern: Larson will start Sunday's race from 22nd.
Calm after the Charlotte incident
The aftermath of the previous race provided a talking point away from the lap times: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael McDowell, who were 28th and 19th in practice, had clashed after the finish at Charlotte. On Saturday morning, before practice, both drivers were called into the NASCAR hauler at Phoenix Raceway. As early as Tuesday, Mike Forde, NASCAR's vice president of racing communications, had said on the “Hauler Talk” podcast that the incident was “probably the closest it's gotten to being a penalty without it being a penalty.” No penalty was issued because no car hit the wall or damaged another car. After the meeting, both drivers made it clear that the matter was settled.
With practice and qualifying done, attention now turns to Sunday, when 312 laps on the Phoenix oval will decide who takes a step forward in the title fight and who, like Larson despite his points lead, still has to find speed.
