FORT WORTH, Texas – Ross Chastain ruled the roost during a pair of practice sessions for the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Chastain, making his final appearance of the year in Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro, turned a lap of 28.733 seconds (187.937 mph) on his final lap of the day to lead a 38-car field ahead of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.
The Alva, Fla., native and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series playoff leader made 27 trips around the 1.5-mile quad-oval during the second of two 50-minute sessions on the day.
Chastain’s fast time came in final practice.
Second overall for the day and fastest in first Xfinity Series practice was defending series champion Tyler Reddick, who took the No. 2 Alsco Chevrolet to a time of 28.801 seconds (187.493 mph) on his 12th of 15 laps in that practice round.
Reddick is seeking a victory this weekend to advance him back into the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in two weeks’ time.
Third on the combined time sheets was Christopher Bell (28.846/187.201), followed by Justin Allgaier and Austin Cindric.
Aside from Reddick, the top five’s fastest laps all came in final practice.
Defending event winner Cole Custer was sixth-quick in the second session, which also left him sixth overall for the day.
Qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon.