Blake Koch and Kyle Larson led the way in a pair of XFINITY Series practice sessions Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Koch, who led first practice, was fastest out of the 38 drivers who turned laps in the first session of the afternoon. XFINITY Series playoff driver Daniel Hemric used extra track time to his advantage to finish second in the initial session. Cup regulars Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five.
Five drivers turned more than ten laps in the session consecutively. Justin Allgaier was the sole playoff driver to turn 10 laps consecutively finishing 16th. Dylan Lupton, John Jackson, Spencer Boyd, and Angela Ruch rounded out the top five on the 10-consecutive lap average speed chart.
38 of the 40 drivers entered in Saturday’s O’Reilly 300 turned at least one lap in the session. Lupton turned 32 laps, the most in the session while Jeff Green, Reed Sorenson and Morgan Shepherd turned two laps.
In the second of two sessions on Friday, Larson was the fastest driver in final practice, turning a 28.327-second lap. Larson was fastest of 36 drivers who turned a lap in the session before Saturday’s qualifying and race. Ryan Blaney finished second followed by spring race winner Erik Jones. Playoff drivers William Byron and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five.
Larson also had the best 10-consecutive lap average in the session while Erik Jones finished second. Six other drivers turned 10 consecutive laps including playoff drivers Elliott Sadler, Matt Tifft, and Cole Custer.
Only 35 drivers turned laps in this session. Christopher Bell turned the most laps of the session at 27 while Timmy Hill and Gray Gaulding turned two laps a piece, the least amount of the session.
Qualifying for the O’Reilly 300 at Texas is slated for Saturday Afternoon (Nov. 4) at 6:05 p.m. ET. The race is slated to go live on NBC Sports Network Saturday Night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
About the author
His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.
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