Ryan Blaney led the way in Friday’s practice session at Sonoma Raceway with a top lap of 97.866 mph, setting the pace for Cup teams as they had 50 minutes of practice on the repaved road course. The new surface significantly increased speeds, and Blaney’s lap was over 6 mph faster than last year’s best lap in the same practice session. Ty Gibbs followed closely behind Blaney with a top lap of 97.829 mph, while Will Brown ranked third with a top lap of 97.617 mph in the No. 33 car for Richard Childress Racing.
Meanwhile, in the Xfinity Series, Shane van Gisbergen posted the fastest lap during Friday’s 50-minute practice session, reaching a top speed of 95.152 mph. Parker Kligerman came in second on the speed chart with a top lap of 94.763 mph. Unfortunately, Boris Said crashed during the session while driving the No. 17 car for Hendrick Motorsports, leaving him out of qualifying for Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway.
Cup qualifying is set to begin at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday, while Xfinity qualifying will take place at 3:30 p.m., also on Saturday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway . The race will take place on Sunday afternoon for Cup and later that evening at 8 p.m ET for Xfinity series respectively
