RADIO
The NASCAR Cup Series ran a single practice session at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon in preparation for the upcoming Cook Out 400 on Sunday evening.
Unlike other weeks, the 37-car field was not split into two groups for this practice session. Instead, NASCAR had a unified 45-minute session for all of the teams at one. This is because NASCAR is introducing the "option tire" for Richmond this weekend, which will give teams the possibility of sacrificing long-run speed for significantly better short-run speed during the race on Sunday.
Richmond is a 0.75-mile flat track that is super abrasive. Tire wear will come into play during the race on Sunday, not to mention we're not fully sure what to expect with the addition of the "option tires." Be sure to take the practice speeds from Saturday with a grain of salt, as the "option tires" were significantly faster than the "prime tires," but most teams will be using the "prime tires" for much of the race on Sunday.
Important Practice Notes
Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch's No. 8 Chevrolet got into the wall a little bit during practice, but it wasn't significant.
Kyle Larson - The No. 5 Chevrolet got out on the track a little later than others during this practice, which caused Larson to be a little down on the speed chart.
Joey Logano - It'll be interesting to see how the "option tire" affects this race on Sunday. Logano thinks this will be a different Richmond race than what we've ever seen before.
2024 Richmond Cook Out 400 Practice Speed Chart
Click here to download the PDF of the practice speed chart.
| Pos | Driver | Time | Speed | Fastest Lap | Laps Ran | Behind Leader |
| 1. | Austin Dillon | 22.698 | 118.953 | 2 | 69 | ---.--- |
| 2. | Bubba Wallace | 22.716 | 118.859 | 2 | 80 | -0.018 |
| 3. | Christopher Bell | 22.735 | 118.760 | 2 | 86 | -0.037 |
| 4. | Martin Truex Jr. | 22.745 | 118.707 | 2 | 83 | -0.047 |
| 5. | Zane Smith | 22.746 | 118.702 | 2 | 74 | -0.048 |
| 6. | Carson Hocevar | 22.779 | 118.530 | 1 | 73 | -0.081 |
| 7. | Chris Buescher | 22.793 | 118.457 | 2 | 79 | -0.095 |
| 8. | Michael McDowell | 22.837 | 118.229 | 2 | 83 | -0.139 |
| 9. | Daniel Suarez | 22.842 | 118.203 | 3 | 86 | -0.144 |
| 10. | Ty Gibbs | 22.873 | 118.043 | 2 | 85 | -0.175 |
| 11. | Denny Hamlin | 22.884 | 117.986 | 2 | 86 | -0.186 |
| 12. | Chase Briscoe | 22.885 | 117.981 | 1 | 90 | -0.187 |
| 13. | Corey LaJoie | 22.903 | 117.888 | 2 | 63 | -0.205 |
| 14. | Justin Haley | 22.926 | 117.770 | 2 | 49 | -0.228 |
| 15. | Ross Chastain | 22.932 | 117.739 | 4 | 80 | -0.234 |
| 16. | Erik Jones | 22.948 | 117.657 | 2 | 53 | -0.250 |
| 17. | Todd Gilliland | 23.031 | 117.233 | 45 | 87 | -0.333 |
| 18. | Joey Logano | 23.060 | 117.086 | 44 | 87 | -0.362 |
| 19. | Riley Herbst | 23.062 | 117.076 | 2 | 69 | -0.364 |
| 20. | Kyle Busch | 23.087 | 116.949 | 2 | 67 | -0.389 |
| 21. | Tyler Reddick | 23.094 | 116.913 | 42 | 74 | -0.396 |
| 22. | John Hunter Nemechek | 23.096 | 116.903 | 41 | 84 | -0.398 |
| 23. | Noah Gragson | 23.118 | 116.792 | 2 | 80 | -0.420 |
| 24. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 23.131 | 116.726 | 1 | 91 | -0.433 |
| 25. | Ryan Blaney | 23.165 | 116.555 | 45 | 81 | -0.467 |
| 26. | Brad Keselowski | 23.174 | 116.510 | 49 | 95 | -0.476 |
| 27. | Alex Bowman | 23.184 | 116.460 | 43 | 77 | -0.486 |
| 28. | Daniel Hemric | 23.192 | 116.419 | 29 | 60 | -0.494 |
| 29. | Ty Dillon | 23.215 | 116.304 | 3 | 59 | -0.517 |
| 30. | Harrison Burton | 23.215 | 116.304 | 40 | 79 | -0.517 |
| 31. | Austin Cindric | 23.231 | 116.224 | 39 | 77 | -0.533 |
| 32. | Kyle Larson | 23.253 | 116.114 | 49 | 76 | -0.555 |
| 33. | Josh Berry | 23.272 | 116.019 | 5 | 37 | -0.574 |
| 34. | Ryan Preece | 23.323 | 115.766 | 32 | 65 | -0.625 |
| 35. | William Byron | 23.410 | 115.335 | 3 | 76 | -0.712 |
| 36. | Chase Elliott | 23.506 | 114.864 | 43 | 65 | -0.808 |
| 37. | Parker Retzlaff | 24.608 | 109.720 | 12 | 36 | -1.910 |
2024 Richmond Cook Out 400 10-Lap Average Chart
| Pos | Driver | From Lap | To Lap | Avg Speed |
| 1. | Ross Chastain | 1 | 10 | 116.741 |
| 2. | Chris Buescher | 1 | 10 | 116.501 |
| 3. | Daniel Suarez | 1 | 10 | 116.433 |
| 4. | Austin Dillon | 1 | 10 | 116.415 |
| 5. | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | 10 | 116.397 |
| 6. | Zane Smith | 1 | 10 | 116.238 |
| 7. | Justin Haley | 1 | 10 | 115.918 |
| 8. | Michael McDowell | 1 | 10 | 115.900 |
| 9. | Bubba Wallace | 1 | 10 | 115.853 |
| 10. | Corey LaJoie | 1 | 10 | 115.836 |
| 11. | Chase Briscoe | 52 | 61 | 115.593 |
| 12. | Christopher Bell | 2 | 11 | 115.589 |
| 13. | Denny Hamlin | 1 | 10 | 115.525 |
| 14. | John Hunter Nemechek | 39 | 48 | 115.412 |
| 15. | Brad Keselowski | 48 | 57 | 115.354 |
| 16. | Ty Gibbs | 1 | 10 | 115.331 |
| 17. | Tyler Reddick | 42 | 51 | 115.251 |
| 18. | Josh Berry | 1 | 10 | 115.195 |
| 19. | Kyle Busch | 33 | 42 | 115.187 |
| 20. | Joey Logano | 43 | 52 | 115.131 |
| 21. | Todd Gilliland | 44 | 53 | 115.014 |
| 22. | Ryan Preece | 32 | 41 | 114.973 |
| 23. | Daniel Hemric | 29 | 38 | 114.944 |
| 24. | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 53 | 62 | 114.927 |
| 25. | Ryan Blaney | 44 | 53 | 114.924 |
| 26. | Alex Bowman | 43 | 52 | 114.903 |
| 27. | Austin Cindric | 38 | 47 | 114.838 |
| 28. | William Byron | 1 | 10 | 114.781 |
| 29. | Ty Dillon | 1 | 10 | 114.774 |
| 30. | Noah Gragson | 39 | 48 | 114.694 |
| 31. | Harrison Burton | 42 | 51 | 114.691 |
| 32. | Kyle Larson | 48 | 57 | 114.447 |
| 33. | Carson Hocevar | 5 | 14 | 114.435 |
| 34. | Riley Herbst | 39 | 48 | 113.992 |
| 35. | Chase Elliott | 40 | 49 | 113.965 |
| 36. | Erik Jones | 29 | 38 | 113.816 |
| 37. | Parker Retzlaff | 6 | 15 | 108.862 |
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