Bubba Wallace sports the fastest time in practice at Homestead

Bubba Wallace, driving the #23 Toyota for 23XI Racing, displayed a spectacular performance in Saturday's practice session at Homestead-Miami Speedway, exhibiting an average lap speed of 169.088 mph.

This marked an impressive outing for the 29-year-old driver, whose NASCAR Cup Series playoffs journey came to an end in the second round after facing elimination from the playoffs in the Charlotte Roval race.

Sharing the practice session with Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric exhibited a strong performance, securing the second spot overall with a speed of 167.999 mph.

Playoff contender Ryan Blaney claimed the third position, hitting a speed of 167.764 mph. It's worth noting that all three of these drivers hailed from Group A of the practice session.

Bubba Wallace returns to Homestead after missing out last season, teammate Tyler Reddick tops Group B

Christopher Bell delivered a solid performance to secure fourth place, closely followed by Michael McDowell, who rounded out the top five. Playoff drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, both driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, came in the sixth and seventh positions, respectively.

In Group B, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace's teammate at 23XI Racing, secured the top spot (and eighth overall). He led the session with an impressive average lap speed of 166.904 mph.

Team Penske's Joey Logano, the reigning Cup Series champion, was not far behind and secured the second-fastest time at 166.707 mph. Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing took third place with a speed of 166.538 mph.

Notably, this session also marked Bubba Wallace's first return to the Homestead-Miami Speedway since a one-race suspension from NASCAR a year ago. The suspension happened as a consequence of an incident involving the then defending champion, Kyle Larson. It was Xfinity Series driver John Hunter Nemechek who replaced Wallace at the same track last season.

With the coveted Cup Series championship in sight, the playoff race in Homestead - the second of the Round of 8 - promises to be a thrilling event in respect of the approaching grand finale.

With Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson having already secured a spot in the final four of the playoffs, a tussle for the remaining three spots between the seven drivers would be one to watch out for.