Christopher Bell fastest in Brickyard 400 practice

Christopher Bell's search for his first win of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season got off to a great start Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Bell paced the lone Cup practice session of the weekend ahead of Sunday's Brickyard 400, putting down a fastest lap of 49.043 seconds/183.512 miles per hour around the famed 2.5-mile track. 

John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five, with 2024 Brickyard 400 winner Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez completing the top 10. 

Notable practice results

Toyota swept the top five, with Larson being the fastest Chevy driver in the session. Blaney was the fastest Ford driver and the only blue oval pilot in the top 13. 

Other notable practice results include William Byron in 11th, Corey Heim in 12th, defending Brickyard 400 winner Bubba Wallace in 20th, Chase Elliott in 21st and North Wilkesboro winner Joey Logano in 22nd. 

Todd Gilliland, who will battle Blaney for $1 million in the finale of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge on Sunday, was 28th on the speed chart. Daniel Dye was last (39th), running a fastest lap of 51.849 seconds/173.851 miles per hour. 

Cup qualifying will take place at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday on truTV, with Sunday's Brickyard 400 going green shortly after 2 p.m. ET on TNT and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.