The NASCAR Cup Series has finally made it onto the racetrack Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway, despite a bout of afternoon rain showers that forced the sanctioning body to cancel qualifying for the Window World 250.

Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin found themselves at the top of the speed charts during NASCAR’s improvised 50-minute practice session from the legendary 0.625-mile short track.

Bell had the fastest time in the session, laying down an 18.222-second (123.477mph) lap time on his third of 69 total laps in the session, which put him atop the timesheet by 0.014 seconds over teammate Hamlin.

Ross Chastain, piloting the No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, was the fastest of the Chevrolet drivers in third place, with Hendrick Motorsports teammates of William Byron and Chase Elliott rounding out the top five.

Ty Gibbs, who will start on the outside of the front row for Sunday’s 450-lapper from North Wilkesboro, was sixth quickest in practice, with Kyle Larson in seventh, and three Ford Racing drivers, Josh Berry, Joey Logano, and Chris Buescher rounding out the top 10.

Ryan Blaney inherited a first-place starting spot in Sunday’s event via NASCAR’s Performance Metric, and in practice, was just outside the top=10, ranking 11th. The field, as is typical in the NASCAR Cup Series, is tight, with the top-17 only separated by two tenths of a second.

Michael McDowell, ranked 27th, turned the most laps in the session: 84.

Chad Finchum, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66, was the slowest driver in the session, at a 19.131, less than one second off the leader.

Christopher Bell, winner of the 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, was also the fastest driver on the 10-lap average in practice, over William Byron, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney.

The Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro Speedway will take place Sunday, July 19 at 7:00 PM ET on TNT and TruTV.

Photo: LAT Images for Toyota Racing USA