Erik Jones didn’t let the fact he’s never driven an Xfinity Series car at Talladega Superspeedway affect him during Friday’s lone practice session.
Jones, 18, shot to the top of the speed charts – not an easy thing to do for a veteran driver, let alone a relative newcomer to both ‘Dega and the Xfinity Series – with a speed of 188.861 mph.
Darrell Wallace Jr., an Xfinity Series rookie, was second-fastest at 188.727 mph, followed by Daytona winner Ryan Reed (188.727) and Regan Smith (188.086).
Here’s how the only Xfinity practice session of the weekend played out:
1 Erik Jones … 188.861 mph … 19 laps
2 Darrell Wallace Jr. … 188.727 … 21 laps
3 Ryan Reed … 188.727 … 20 laps
4 Regan Smith … 188.086 … 23 laps
5 Daniel Suarez … 187.621 … 23 laps
6 Kasey Kahne … 187.141 … 18 laps
7 Aric Almirola … 187.053 … 35 laps
8 John Wes Townley … 187.017 … 41 laps
9 Brian Scott … 186.903 … 19 laps
10 Chris Buescher … 186.827 … 26 laps
11 Brendan Gaughan … 186.758 …12 laps
12 JJ Yeley … 186.362 … 17 laps
13 Elliott Sadler … 186.180 … 18 laps
14 Brennan Poole … 185.989 … 33 laps
15 Chase Elliott … 185.924 … 14 laps
16 Dakoda Armstrong … 185.902 … 29 laps
17 Boris Said … 185.895 … 23 laps
18 Jeffrey Earnhardt … 185.823 … 20 laps
19 Eric McClure … 185.635 … 17 laps
20 Joey Logano … 185.366 … 21 laps
21 Kenny Wallace … 185.051 … 21 laps
22 Blake Koch … 181.618 … 33 laps
23 Cale Conley … 181.604 … 26 laps
24 Jeremy Clements … 181.594 … 28 laps
25 David Starr … 181.446 … 25 laps
26 Ty Dillon … 181.069 … 23 laps
27 Austin Dillon … 180.870 … 23 laps
28 Mario Gosselin … 179.168 … 15 laps
29 Mark Thompson … 178.964 … 2 laps
30 Benny Gordon … 178.961 … 25 laps
31 Chris Cockrum … 178.543 … 29 laps
32 Chad Boat … 176.627 … 21 laps
33 Ryan Sieg … 176.601 … 20 laps
34 Mike Bliss … 176.523 … 12 laps
35 Bobby Gerhart … 176.026 … 26 laps
36 Derek White … 175.955 … 12 laps
37 Jeff Green … 175.761 … 17 laps
38 Landon Cassill … 175.080 … 6 laps
39 Peyton Sellers … 174.499 … 13 laps
40 Harrison Rhodes … 174.328 … 8 laps
41 Derrike Cope … 174.258 … 18 laps
42 Mike Harmon … 173.945 … 17 laps
43 Ross Chastain … 173.929 … 7 laps
44 Joey Gase … 173.724 … 10 laps
45 Carlos Contreras … 172.864 … 23 laps
Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average:
1 Chris Buescher … 179.246 mph
2 John Wes Townley … 169.106 mph
3 Mark Thompson … 162.614 mph
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