Five Cup Series teams snagged by tire issues in Kansas practice; Ty Gibbs tops leaderboard
Multiple teams suffered tire issues in NASCAR Cup Series practice Saturday afternoon, as Ty Gibbs — one of the drivers affected — topped the speed chart at Kansas Speedway.
Five teams slowed with flat rear tires during the session, which was divided into two groups with 25 minutes of track time each. The practice marked the first on-track time for the Cup Series ahead of Sunday's AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and Gibbs' No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led the way with a best lap of 180.144 mph — the only car to break the 30-second barrier at 29.976 seconds.
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RELATED: Practice results | Weekend schedule: Kansas
The other four teams that were hampered by flats were:
No. 6 RFK Racing Ford for driver/owner Brad Keselowski
No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for driver Chase Briscoe
No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford for Zane Smith
No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet for Shane van Gisbergen
Four teams had trouble with their left-rear tires; only Smith's FRM team had a right-rear tire issue, and his No. 38 was the only car to make contact with the wall because of it.
Goodyear officials indicated earlier this week that teams are running a different left-side tire this weekend, changing up the compound to promote wear and more fall-off in lap times. While new to Kansas, the same tire combination was also used at similarly sized tracks at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Darlington and Texas earlier this season.
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Behind Gibbs on the practice leaderboard was Michael McDowell, second-fastest at 179.456 mph in the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace and William Byron completed the top five.
MORE: At-track photos
Kyle Larson, the defending race winner, scrubbed the outside retaining wall through Turns 3 and 4 nearly midway through the second practice group. His No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sustained a minor right-side scrape and he drove back to pit road. Larson was ninth on the speed chart but topped the category in 10 consecutive lap averages.
This story will be updated.
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