Kurt Busch fastest in Friday's final Cup practice at Las Vegas
Kurt Busch was fastest in Friday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Kurt Busch, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet Camaro
Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Busch’s average lap speed of 177.276 mph topped the Team Penske duo of Joey Logano (176.783 mph) and Brad Keselowski (176.321 mph).
In 19 career starts at his hometown track, Busch has never won but has two top-five and five top-10 finishes and has won two poles.
“When we raced here in March, the high groove in (Turns) 3 and 4 was the first ever time that I’ve seen the Cup guys up there. So, I believe that will be a factor in Sunday’s race. We’ll see,” Busch said.
“We have nightfall as well and that will be the first time we’ve raced under the lights here at Las Vegas. I think that’s a great look for everything and everybody thinks of Vegas as the Strip and the skyline at night.”
Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney were fourth and fifth as playoff contenders swept the top-five.
Rounding the out the top-10 in practice were Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman.
Kyle Busch had the best average lap speed among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps (175.106 mph). Elliott and Logano were second and third, respectively, in that category.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 27 | 30.461 | 177.276 | |||
2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 53 | 30.546 | 0.085 | 0.085 | 176.783 | |
3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 46 | 30.626 | 0.165 | 0.080 | 176.321 | |
4 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 44 | 30.643 | 0.182 | 0.017 | 176.223 | |
5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 47 | 30.662 | 0.201 | 0.019 | 176.114 | |
6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 34 | 30.682 | 0.221 | 0.020 | 175.999 | |
7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 43 | 30.686 | 0.225 | 0.004 | 175.976 | |
8 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 38 | 30.699 | 0.238 | 0.013 | 175.901 | |
9 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 30 | 30.710 | 0.249 | 0.011 | 175.838 | |
10 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 35 | 30.717 | 0.256 | 0.007 | 175.798 | |
11 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 43 | 30.722 | 0.261 | 0.005 | 175.770 | |
12 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 35 | 30.725 | 0.264 | 0.003 | 175.753 | |
13 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 50 | 30.726 | 0.265 | 0.001 | 175.747 | |
14 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 38 | 30.736 | 0.275 | 0.010 | 175.690 | |
15 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 48 | 30.749 | 0.288 | 0.013 | 175.615 | |
16 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 25 | 30.775 | 0.314 | 0.026 | 175.467 | |
17 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 32 | 30.778 | 0.317 | 0.003 | 175.450 | |
18 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 50 | 30.782 | 0.321 | 0.004 | 175.427 | |
19 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 28 | 30.813 | 0.352 | 0.031 | 175.251 | |
20 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 48 | 30.815 | 0.354 | 0.002 | 175.239 | |
21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 37 | 30.825 | 0.364 | 0.010 | 175.182 | |
22 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 40 | 30.860 | 0.399 | 0.035 | 174.984 | |
23 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 48 | 30.896 | 0.435 | 0.036 | 174.780 | |
24 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 25 | 30.918 | 0.457 | 0.022 | 174.656 | |
25 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 34 | 31.015 | 0.554 | 0.097 | 174.109 | |
26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 25 | 31.038 | 0.577 | 0.023 | 173.980 | |
27 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 35 | 31.103 | 0.642 | 0.065 | 173.617 | |
28 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 33 | 31.109 | 0.648 | 0.006 | 173.583 | |
29 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 24 | 31.159 | 0.698 | 0.050 | 173.305 | |
30 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 13 | 31.207 | 0.746 | 0.048 | 173.038 | |
31 | 36 | Matt Tifft | Ford | 26 | 31.508 | 1.047 | 0.301 | 171.385 | |
32 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 13 | 31.604 | 1.143 | 0.096 | 170.864 | |
33 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 11 | 31.633 | 1.172 | 0.029 | 170.708 | |
34 | 52 | Garrett Smithley | Chevrolet | 5 | 32.694 | 2.233 | 1.061 | 165.168 | |
35 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 4 | 32.819 | 2.358 | 0.125 | 164.539 | |
36 | 66 | Joey Gase | Toyota | 9 | 33.179 | 2.718 | 0.360 | 162.754 | |
37 | 27 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | 5 | 33.457 | 2.996 | 0.278 | 161.401 |
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