Elliott and Byron sweep Phoenix Cup practices for Hendrick Motorsports
As the old adage goes, it’s the “same song, different verse” as Hendrick Motorsports has now swept the Cup practice sessions for two weeks in a row.
Last week, Alex Bowman was fastest in both Cup practice sessions at Auto Club Speedway. This week, William Byron was fastest in first practice and Chase Elliott was fastest in second practice to provide Hendrick Motorsports with a practice sweep at Phoenix Raceway.
Byron paced the field with the fastest time of 26.747 seconds (134.595 MPH average) in first practice. Byron was 0.149 seconds quicker than Elliott.
Byron would post the eighth fastest time in second practice, with a 27.140 seconds (132.646 MPH average), slower than Elliott’s fastest time of 26.823 seconds (134.213 MPH average).
Auto Club 400 winner and fellow Hendrick driver Alex Bowman was 12th fastest with a time of 27.166 seconds (132.159 MPH average) in first practice and fourth fastest with a time of 26.986 seconds (133.403 MPH average) in second practice.
Teammate Jimmie Johnson did not fare as well as he posted the 17th fastest time in first practice and 19th fastest time in second practice. Johnson finished 14th in the Fall 2019 race and 8th in the Spring 2019 race.
Points leader Ryan Blaney posted the 10th fastest time in first practice and 11th fastest time in second practice. Blaney finished third in both Phoenix races last year.
Qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series will be tomorrow at 2:35 pm EST (TV: FS1; Radio: MRN). The NASCAR Cup Series FanShield 500 will be Sunday at 3:30 PM EST (TV: FOX; Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
SOURCES:
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com