Practice Results: NASCAR Cup Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol

NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contender Ryan Blaney and Justin Haley tied atop the scoring sheet in single-lap speed in NASCAR Cup Series practice on Friday afternoon. The drivers of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse and the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet turned a fast lap of 15.307 seconds to lead the way.

Haley, who is seeking his second career NASCAR Cup Series win this weekend, turned 78 laps in the session, while Blaney, who is looking to advance to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12, ran 84 laps.

It's been an up-and-down opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for the 16 championship contenders, and it continued in Friday's practice at Bristol with only five Playoff contenders registering top-10 lap times.

Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski, and Michael McDowell rounded out the top-five fastest drivers in practice for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

With Hocevar and McDowell ranking inside the top-five of the scoring sheet, all three Spire Motorsports cars were represented inside the top-five of the practice results.

Chase Briscoe, who is already locked into the next round of the Playoff with a win in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington a couple of weeks ago, was the second-fastest Playoff driver in the session as he ranked sixth. Denny Hamlin, the other driver locked into the next round of the Playoffs due to his win last weekend at Gateway, was seventh-fastest.

While many expected to have high-wearing tires this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, the tire wear was not a factor in Friday's practice session. Now, the conditions on track will be very different on Saturday night, but as of now, it looks like the rumored higher tire wear could be a non-story.

Here are the complete results from NASCAR Cup Series practice for Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Race 29 of 36.

(P) indicates NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Driver
# indicates Rookie of the Year contender
* indicates "Open" entry
(i) indicates a driver ineligible to score points