Kurt Busch tops blistering first NASCAR Cup practice at Dover

Busch’s average lap speed of 168.445 mph set a blistering pace for the 50-minute session, which saw 23 drivers post speeds faster than the track’s qualifying record.

Brad Keselowski set the record in 2014 with an average lap speed of 164.444 mph.

Larson ended up second (168.106 mph) and Kevin Harvick was third (167.950 mph). William Byron and Ryan Blaney completed the top-five.

“Good job boys,” Busch said over his team radio after posting the fast lap.

“It feels like it’s fast – the most downforce, the most power on the smallest track we go to with it,” Busch said in a later interview. “We’ve got to back it up later in qualifying.”

Rounding out the top-10 are Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Elliott and Jimmie Johnson.

All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers posted fast speeds in the top-10.

Four drivers had to sit out the final 15 minutes of Friday’s practice – Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher and Cody Ware for being late into inspection last weekend and Kurt Busch for having multiple inspection failures last weekend.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	11	21.372			168.445
2	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	11	21.415	0.043	0.043	168.106
3	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	9	21.435	0.063	0.020	167.950
4	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	11	21.474	0.102	0.039	167.645
5	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	11	21.474	0.102	0.000	167.645
6	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	11	21.491	0.119	0.017	167.512
7	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	14	21.493	0.121	0.002	167.496
8	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	9	21.535	0.163	0.042	167.170
9	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	11	21.536	0.164	0.001	167.162
10	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	10	21.548	0.176	0.012	167.069
11	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	11	21.571	0.199	0.023	166.891
12	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	10	21.601	0.229	0.030	166.659
13	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	11	21.606	0.234	0.005	166.620
14	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	11	21.615	0.243	0.009	166.551
15	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	11	21.618	0.246	0.003	166.528
16	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	14	21.622	0.250	0.004	166.497
17	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	14	21.645	0.273	0.023	166.320
18	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	15	21.670	0.298	0.025	166.128
19	22	Joey Logano		Ford	13	21.693	0.321	0.023	165.952
20	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	13	21.702	0.330	0.009	165.883
21	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	15	21.737	0.365	0.035	165.616
22	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	15	21.750	0.378	0.013	165.517
23	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	10	21.764	0.392	0.014	165.411
24	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	16	21.917	0.545	0.153	164.256
25	38	David Ragan		Ford	11	21.917	0.545	0.000	164.256
26	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	19	22.023	0.651	0.106	163.465
27	21	Paul Menard		Ford	12	22.036	0.664	0.013	163.369
28	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	15	22.054	0.682	0.018	163.236
29	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	15	22.056	0.684	0.002	163.221
30	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	28	22.075	0.703	0.019	163.080
31	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	29	22.089	0.717	0.014	162.977
32	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	19	22.139	0.767	0.050	162.609
33	52	B.J. McLeod		Chevrolet	3	22.935	1.563	0.796	156.965
34	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	10	23.013	1.641	0.078	156.433
35	77	Quin Houff		Chevrolet	24	23.569	2.197	0.556	152.743
36	51	Cody Ware		Ford	15	23.638	2.266	0.069	152.297
37	27	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	13	24.002	2.630	0.364	149.988