The lone practice session for the NASCAR Cup Series title-decider at Phoenix began with a flurry of tire issues.<\/p>\n
It didn’t take long for the drama to unfold. As Hamlin pulled out of line and slowed to avoid all the traffic, trouble found his title rival and Joe Gibbs Racing<\/a> teammate Chase Briscoe<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The No. 19 slowed down the backstretch with a cut left-rear tire, dragging the underside of the car as he limped it back to the pits.<\/p>\n At the same time, A.J. Allmendinger stopped with a left-front tire failure. Both incidents happened within the first five minutes of practice.<\/p>\n The red flag was displayed, and once the session went back green, another JGR car slowed with a cut left-rear — Christopher Bell<\/a>.<\/p>\n Denny Hamlin<\/a> kept running despite the issues impacting his teammates, only for another red flag for the stopped car of Daniel Suarez<\/a>, also with a flat left-rear.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Hamlin went to the garage and the team began work underneath the car in reaction to the tire issues.<\/p>\n The fifth tire issue involved another Toyota, with the No. 35 23XI Racing<\/a> of Riley Herbst<\/a>. Unfortunately for him, he actually hit the outside wall as the left-rear went flat.<\/p>\n His issue didn’t cause a stoppage as he drove it back to the pits, but teams were holding their breath as they tiptoed around the circuit.<\/p>\n The third red flag of the session was for Allmendinger, who went straight into the wall in a major crash entering Turn 3. He later claimed he suffered a flat right-front tire just before the accident.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n While it’s unclear if it was another problem, Chase Elliott<\/a> also slowed with a potential tire issue and immediately went to the garage out of an abundance of caution. His Hendrick Motorsports<\/a> teammate and Championship 4 driver Kyle Larson<\/a> also touched the wall at the exit of Turn 4 while pushing, but it was nothing to be concerned about.<\/p>\n The fourth red flag was for the stopped car of Kyle Busch<\/a>, who cut a left-rear as well. Earlier in the session, he also touched the wall.<\/p>\n Briscoe got back on track, but complained about a vibration and quickly returned to the garage. Suarez cut another left-rear tire near the end of the session, but the practice remained green as he drove it back.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n “I guess it’s a good thing that it’s not just us,” said Briscoe following the session. “It’s unfortunate that it’s happening, but at least we’re not on an island by ourselves. I’m share James [Small, crew chief], and everybody on our Bass Pro Shops Toyota will figure out what we can do to help manage that on Sunday. But yeah, definitely alarming.<\/p>\n “Wasn’t a great practice for us because we really didn’t get to run a lot because of the issues. We’ll get to work on it and see what we can do. Fortunately, it is one of those weekends where it is an hour-long practice, and you can go change things. If this was one of the normal weekends we have, we’d be in a really tight box. I’m confident we’ll be just fine, just have to figure out what’s going on.”<\/p>\n Fastest drivers on track<\/p>\n When the practice finally reached its conclusion, it was Ty Gibbs<\/a> topping the speed charts over the Team Penske<\/a> duo of Ryan Blaney<\/a> and Austin Cindric<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Hamlin was the fastest title contender in fifth overall, followed by William Byron<\/a> in ninth, Larson in eleventh, and Briscoe in 16th.<\/p>\n Blaney led the way in best ten-lap and 20-lap averages, while Larson was the fastest of all drivers in 15-lap and 25-lap averages. Over the course of 30 laps, it was advantage Byron , before going back to Larson in 35-lap averages.<\/p>\n Larson also ran more laps than any other driver at 69 total laps.<\/p>\n