Byron Dominates NASCAR COTA Practice: Sets Overall Fastest Time!”

Byron Dominates NASCAR COTA Practice_ In a display of strategic timing, William Byron emerged as the standout performer during Saturday’s extended NASCAR Cup practice at Circuit of the Americas, waiting until the closing moments to unveil his impressive speed.

Byron, who secured the pole for this race a year prior, opted to bide his time, joining the fray as one of the final cars to complete laps within the 1½-hour practice window. Despite the clock winding down, Byron clocked the fastest average lap speed of the day at 94.415 mph, showcasing his prowess on the track.

The practice sessions saw teams divided into two groups, each allotted a pair of 20-minute sessions. Notably, this event marked the debut of NASCAR’s new aero package for the season’s inaugural road course race.

Byron’s impressive speed emanated from Group B, narrowly surpassing Ty Gibbs’ top lap of 94.681 mph from the second session of Group A.

In Group B’s second 20-minute session, Byron’s late flyer lap at 94.703 mph dominated the speed chart, with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman trailing closely behind at 94.415 mph. Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Kamui Kobayashi completed the top five positions.

Group B wasn’t without its challenges, as evidenced by Chastain’s spin in the initial session and multiple drivers facing lap time disqualifications for cutting corners, including Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, and Josh Berry.

Meanwhile, Gibbs set a relentless pace in both sessions of Group A, ultimately leading the charge with an impressive average lap speed of 94.681 mph. Bubba Wallace secured the second spot with a speed of 94.260 mph, followed by Kyle Busch. Shane van Gisbergen and Corey LaJoie rounded out the top five.

Reflecting on the practice sessions, Wallace expressed satisfaction with the efforts of 23XI Racing, despite some variability in tire choices among competitors. However, the sessions were not without incident, with Tyler Reddick’s turn-around off Turn 7 prompting a brief halt in action during the first Group A session.

Furthermore, several drivers faced lap time disqualifications in Group A for cutting corners, including LaJoie, Denny Hamlin, A.J. Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Briscoe.