Hamlin leads All-Star practice at Texas

Denny Hamlin kicked off All-Star Race weekend activities by being the fastest driver in practice Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Hamlin, the 2015 All-Star Race winner, clocked in at 187.253 mph (28.838 seconds). The rest of the top five in practice were defending All-Star Race winner Kyle Larson (186.825 mph), Kyle Busch (186.793 mph), Ryan Blaney (186.67 mph), and Martin Truex Jr. (186.516 mph).

Ross Chastain was sixth fastest (186.406 mph), Chase Elliott was seventh (186.014 mph), Bubba Wallace eighth (185.906 mph), Joey Logano ninth (185.784 mph), and AJ Allmendinger 10th (185.784 mph).

There are 20 drivers locked into the All-Star Race.

Past All-Star Race winners already locked into the event are Hamlin, Larson, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Logano, Kurt Busch, and Kevin Harvick. Drivers making their first All-Star Race appearance who are already locked in are Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe.

Drivers were also given time to practice launching off pit road as the eight drivers who make it to the elimination bracket in All-Star Race qualifying will do after a four-tire pit stop.

Both All-Star Race practice and All-Star Open practice were incident-free.

Tyler Reddick led the way in All-Star Open practice for the 16 drivers with hopes of making the big show. Reddick, who was shifting, ran a fast lap of 185.829 mph (29.059 seconds).

Erik Jones was second fastest in Open practice at 185.739 mph. Daniel Suarez was third fastest (185.382 mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fourth fastest (185.001 mph), and Justin Haley (184.900 mph) completed the top five.

Reddick was also fastest in the best 10 consecutive lap average. Reddick made the All-Star Race for the first time last year by winning a segment in the Open.

There are seven other drivers who have made previous All-Star Race starts who are also competing in the Open: Jones, Suarez, Stenhouse, Haley, Chris Buescher, Cole Custer, and Austin Dillon.