Cale Conley fastest as RCR juggernaut grabs top three spots in second NNS practice at Chicagoland - MotorSportsTalk

JOLIET, Illinois — Picking up where they left off in the first session a few hours earlier, Richard Childress Racing dominated Friday’s second Nationwide Series practice session at Chicagoland Speedway.

RCR driver Brian Scott was the fastest in the day’s first practice, while teammate Cale Conley mastered the second session – and in commanding form.

In fact, it was a 1-2-3 RCR showing in the second practice.

While Scott ran a top speed of 172.806 mph in the first practice, Conley’s best run in the second practice was mighty stout, being the only driver to exceed 175 mph with a best lap of 175.262 mph.

RCR teammate Brendan Gaughan, who was fourth-fastest in the first practice, improved to second-fastest in the second session, just a tick short of 175 mph at 174.961 mph.

A third RCR driver, Richard Childress’ grandson Ty Dillon, was third-fastest at 174.848 mph. Scott, meanwhile, could only muster 11th-fastest in the second session (172.667 mph, just a hair shy of his first practice speed).

Roush Fenway Racing claimed the fourth- and fifth-fastest spots: Trevor Bayne (174.447 mph) and Ryan Reed (174.402).

Erik Jones, who is making his Nationwide Series debut this weekend, was sixth-fastest at 174.064 mph, followed by Chase Elliott (173.561), Ryan Sieg (173.321), James Buescher (172.999) and Ryan Blaney (172.822).

Other notables in the second session included:

* No. 12 Elliott Sadler (172.557), No. 13 Kasey Kahne (172.172), No. 14 Kyle Larson (172.057), No. 15 Sam Hornish Jr. (172.051) and No. 17 (Regan Smith (171.638).

* Dylan Kwasniewski, who has new crew chief Shannon Rursch for this race (replaced the released Pat Tryson), continued to search for speed. Kwasniewski was only 22nd fastest (169.343 mph), nearly six mph behind pace-setter Conley.

* Only 39 of the 40 drivers entered took practice laps, with Mike Harmon the slowest of the bunch at just 156.101 mph. Tanner Berryhill was scored 40th, but he did not bring his car onto the racetrack for the second session after recording the 28th-fastest speed in the first session.

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Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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