Elliott, Byron top Phoenix practices

Chase Elliott

Ralph Garcia/AR1.com

Chase Elliott pushed atop the speed chart in final NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway as Hendrick Motorsports swept both Friday sessions.

Elliott forged a 134.213-mph lap on the 1-mile Arizona track in Hendrick’s No. 9 Chevrolet. He was also second to teammate William Byron, who led opening practice and sealed the eighth-fastest speed in final practice.

The 50-minute session was the final tune-up before Saturday’s Busch Pole Qualifying and Sunday’s FanShield 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Kyle Busch landed the second-fastest lap at 134.203 mph — just 0.002 seconds off Elliott’s time — in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman and Ty Dillon rounded out the top five in order.

Kevin Harvick, the series’ winningest driver at Phoenix with nine victories, was 13th in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford, but did have the best 10-lap average final practice.

Clint Bowyer

Ralph Garcia/AR1.com

Qualifying to determine the 38-car starting lineup is set for Saturday at 2:35 p.m. ET (FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR officials held three Cup Series teams for portions of final practice for technical infractions incurred last week at Auto Club Speedway. The following teams served 15-minute deductions: The No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Kurt Busch and the No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Ford of JJ Yeley. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. had 30 minutes deducted from final practice for three inspection failures last weekend.

Byron leads 1-2 Hendrick sweep in first practice

William Byron powered to the top of the NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard in Friday’s opening practice at Phoenix Raceway, leading a 1-2 sweep by Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

Byron survived a minor wall scrape and registered a 134.595-mph lap in Hendrick’s No. 24 Chevrolet. He was just ahead of teammate Chase Elliott, who turned a 133.849 lap in the No. 9 Chevy.

“Just gotta know where the wall’s at, you know, and I was just trying to get my angle for Turn 1 and just nicked it a little bit," Byron told FOX Sports. “Just got to figure out where it is. We have a little more windshield block out here, so my line of sight’s a little different. So just getting used to that. The car’s pretty good. I think we’re about P10 or 11 in race trim. Need a little more speed, but I thought qualifying trim was obviously good, too."

Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch completed the top five in the 50-minute session.

Three teams absorbed minor tangles with the outside retaining wall. Corey LaJoie’s tap was the more pronounced of the three after his Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford slipped out of the groove with 10 minutes left in the opening session. Aric Almirola and Byron pressed on after brief right-side scrapes.

Practice 1 Times

Practice 2 Times