‘Edgy’ practice session paints daunting picture at Dover

DOVER, Del. — The Next Gen car’s Dover debut has Cup drivers on edge entering Sunday’s race.

Saturday’s practice saw five drivers crash during the day’s two 17-minute sessions: William Byron, Josh Bilicki, Tyler Reddick and rookies Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton.

Asked if his No. 8 Chevrolet received damage following two on-track incidents, Reddick offered the most candid response.

“Oh yeah. Back bumper, the right side. I’m pretty sure I’ve wet myself in the seat a few times so we’re gonna have to put a new insert in it too,” Reddick said with a laugh. “More to come.”

Reddick may have been able to joke away some of his struggles, but the crashes justified early nerves expressed by the drivers even before they got onto the racetrack.

Last week’s winner Ross Chastain and defending series champion Kyle Larson both expressed uneasiness before hopping into their cars for practice Saturday.

“I think probably all us drivers are a little nervous before we go out for this practice session …,” Larson said. “It’s been edgy, and this place is already naturally edgy getting into the corner, so I think we could see some cars crash but it’s pretty cold and should hopefully have more grip than if it was hotter.”

Reddick spun once and later contacted the wall exiting Turn 2 while following Ty Dillon. The two-time Xfinity champion was less than pleased with his car.

“As of right now, I just need to survive the race,” Reddick said. “I mean I’m not even gonna make the end of Stage 1 the way this weekend’s been going for us.

“Something’s really, really wrong. I like things that are hard to drive, but this is beyond that.”

Byron and Bilicki suffered the hardest hits and will start Sunday’s race in backup cars. In Group A’s session,