Race Weekend Central

Justin Haley, Christopher Bell Top Pair of Truck Series Practices at Kansas

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Justin Haley and Christopher Bell led a pair of 55-minute practice sessions at Kansas Speedway Thursday afternoon.

Under cloudy skies and the threat of rain, Haley ran the most laps of any driver in the first session at 31 and was the only driver to break 178 mph. He posted a 30.297 second lap, good enough for 178.235 mph on the final lap he ran in the closing minutes. Christopher Bell was second quickest at 177.445 mph, followed by Johnny Sauter. Noah Gragson, who sat atop the speed charts for most of the first session, wound up fourth, followed by two-time winner Matt Crafton.

Just four drivers ran 10 consecutive laps during the first practice. Bell led the way in that group, followed by Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe and Gragson.

The biggest incident during the first session happened in the garage when heavy smoke billowed from the generator set up by Ross Chastain’s garage stall, an issue that appeared to be corrected simply by shutting it off.

Meanwhile, Bell was the only driver to break the 178 mph mark in the second session at 178.383 mph. Crafton was second-quickest, followed by Kaz Grala, who jumped to third on the charts in the closing minutes with a mock qualifying run. Sauter and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top five.

A dozen drivers ran at least 10 consecutive laps in final practice, and once again, Bell topped that list. Wendell Chavous was the long driver to not post a lap in either session.

The second session, held after an hour-long break, featured a pair of stoppages. The first was caused when a blow tire sent Cody Ware hard into the outside wall. He was treated and released from the infield care center.

Shortly after Ware’s truck was removed from the track, the session was slowed once again when Cody Coughlin and Noah Gragson stalled on pit road.

Qualifying for Friday night’s Toyota Tundra 250 will be held Friday afternoon at 4:35 p.m. ET, while the race will take the green flag at 8:30 p.m.

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