Chris Buescher is surprise leader of Friday's first Cup practice
Chris Buescher topped Friday’s first NASCAR Cup Series practice, the only non-playoff driver in the top-10.
Chris Buescher, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet Camaro Fast Lane to Flavor
John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
Buescher set his average lap speed of 121.147 mph early in the 50-minute session at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and it stood the entire time.
In seven career Cup starts at Richmond, Buescher’s best finish 17th in 2017.
Joey Logano ended up second (120.962 mph) and William Byron was third (120.827 mph). Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson completed the top-five.
Rounding out the top-10 were Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Ryan Newman.
Martin Truex Jr., who won this race in the spring and last weekend’s playoff opener at Las Vegas, ended up 13th.
Larson was fastest among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps. Jones and Clint Bowyer were second and third, respectively, in that category.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 42 | 22.287 | 121.147 | |||
2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 41 | 22.321 | 0.034 | 0.034 | 120.962 | |
3 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 46 | 22.346 | 0.059 | 0.025 | 120.827 | |
4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 43 | 22.372 | 0.085 | 0.026 | 120.687 | |
5 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 33 | 22.409 | 0.122 | 0.037 | 120.487 | |
6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 49 | 22.477 | 0.190 | 0.068 | 120.123 | |
7 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 49 | 22.479 | 0.192 | 0.002 | 120.112 | |
8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 48 | 22.481 | 0.194 | 0.002 | 120.101 | |
9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 61 | 22.510 | 0.223 | 0.029 | 119.947 | |
10 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 41 | 22.516 | 0.229 | 0.006 | 119.915 | |
11 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 39 | 22.519 | 0.232 | 0.003 | 119.899 | |
12 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 57 | 22.550 | 0.263 | 0.031 | 119.734 | |
13 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 50 | 22.552 | 0.265 | 0.002 | 119.723 | |
14 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 54 | 22.556 | 0.269 | 0.004 | 119.702 | |
15 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 45 | 22.558 | 0.271 | 0.002 | 119.691 | |
16 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 34 | 22.578 | 0.291 | 0.020 | 119.585 | |
17 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 60 | 22.593 | 0.306 | 0.015 | 119.506 | |
18 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 57 | 22.599 | 0.312 | 0.006 | 119.474 | |
19 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 39 | 22.605 | 0.318 | 0.006 | 119.443 | |
20 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 45 | 22.607 | 0.320 | 0.002 | 119.432 | |
21 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 36 | 22.607 | 0.320 | 0.0 | 119.432 | |
22 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 47 | 22.633 | 0.346 | 0.026 | 119.295 | |
23 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 50 | 22.640 | 0.353 | 0.007 | 119.258 | |
24 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 66 | 22.651 | 0.364 | 0.011 | 119.200 | |
25 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 39 | 22.652 | 0.365 | 0.001 | 119.195 | |
26 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 50 | 22.657 | 0.370 | 0.005 | 119.168 | |
27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 39 | 22.809 | 0.522 | 0.152 | 118.374 | |
28 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 40 | 22.827 | 0.540 | 0.018 | 118.281 | |
29 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 45 | 22.875 | 0.588 | 0.048 | 118.033 | |
30 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 37 | 22.891 | 0.604 | 0.016 | 117.950 | |
31 | 36 | Matt Tifft | Ford | 27 | 22.963 | 0.676 | 0.072 | 117.580 | |
32 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 35 | 23.050 | 0.763 | 0.087 | 117.137 | |
33 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 25 | 23.156 | 0.869 | 0.106 | 116.600 | |
34 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 15 | 23.442 | 1.155 | 0.286 | 115.178 | |
35 | 52 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 21 | 23.502 | 1.215 | 0.060 | 114.884 | |
36 | 27 | Quin Houff | Chevrolet | 20 | 23.536 | 1.249 | 0.034 | 114.718 | |
37 | 53 | Spencer Boyd | Chevrolet | 14 | 23.724 | 1.437 | 0.188 | 113.809 | |
38 | 51 | Austin Theriault | Chevrolet | 6 | 24.172 | 1.885 | 0.448 | 111.699 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments