Blaney, who won the series last year, hasn’t won any races yet this year. Last weekend, he ran out of gas with just two laps left.
But in practice, Blaney was really fast. He drove with an average speed of 97.866 mph in the final minutes.
NASCAR gave teams a 50-minute practice session on Friday. This was after the track got completely repaved earlier this year.
If Blaney’s lap was done during qualifying, he would have set a new track record.
Ty Gibbs was the second fastest (97.828 mph), and Will Brown, a leader in the Supercars series making his NASCAR debut, was the third fastest (97.616 mph).
“I’ve watched a lot of what (Shane van Gisbergen) is doing, and I’ve worked with him a lot,” said Brown, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. “It’s great to have him as a spotter this weekend. It was a good start. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to the racing.”
Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott, teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, were in the top five.
The top 10 also included Michael McDowell, Noah Gragson, Zane Smith, Ross Chastain, and Martin Truex Jr.
During the practice, Josh Berry spun around in Turn 2 about nine minutes in. But he didn’t seem to get any damage to his No. 4 Ford.
Cam Waters, who has won 12 times in the Supercars series and was making his Cup debut, spun and slid off course in Turn 1 about 15 minutes in. He nearly hit the tire barrier but was able to get back on track.
With 25 minutes left, Daniel Hemric spun and went off track in Turn 2. But he was able to get back on track.
Erik Jones also went off course in Turn 10 with 10 minutes to go. But he didn’t cause any damage to his No. 43 Toyota.
Among the drivers who drove at least 10 laps in a row, Ross Chastain had the fastest average speed (95.667 mph). Tyler Reddick and Bowman followed him in that category.
