Kurt Busch fastest in final NASCAR Cup practice at Sonoma
Kurt Busch led Friday’s second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session with the fastest lap of the day at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Monster Energy / Haas Automation
Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
Midway through the session Friday, Busch posted an average lap speed of 94.061 mph – the fastest lap anyone had turned all day.
“I love road racing and I think it’s fun. It’s important to have a positive mindset everywhere, but it’s not problem for me at the road courses,” Busch said. “I just like the rhythm. I like how you use one corner to help you in the next corner. You have to be thinking three corners ahead.
“Everything seems to have a larger consequence because track position is so important. So, as soon as you have a flat tire or a fender rub or you go off track, it’s very difficult to get back the track position you once had.”
Denny Hamlin ended up second fastest (94.012 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. was third (93.718 mph). Jamie McMurray was fourth and last year’s race winner, Kevin Harvick, completed the top-five.
Truex ended up with some minor front-end damage to his No. 78 Toyota after a run-in with Darrell Wallace Jr. on the track.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola and Michael McDowell.
Ryan Blaney (29) completed the most laps in session.
About 10 minutes into the session, both Kyle Larson and William Byron had smoke coming from their respective cars and NASCAR threw a caution to check for oil on the track. Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet appeared to have an axle failure.
Harvick had the fastest average lap speed of the drivers that completed at least 10 consecutive laps (91.468 mph). Kurt Busch was second and Clint Bowyer third in that category.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 25 | 1'16.163 | 94.061 | ||
2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 22 | 1'16.203 | 0.040 | 0.040 | 94.012 |
3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 16 | 1'16.442 | 0.279 | 0.239 | 93.718 |
4 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 25 | 1'16.580 | 0.417 | 0.138 | 93.549 |
5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 28 | 1'16.669 | 0.506 | 0.089 | 93.441 |
6 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 18 | 1'16.692 | 0.529 | 0.023 | 93.413 |
7 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 26 | 1'16.734 | 0.571 | 0.042 | 93.361 |
8 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 14 | 1'16.802 | 0.639 | 0.068 | 93.279 |
9 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 24 | 1'16.868 | 0.705 | 0.066 | 93.199 |
10 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 16 | 1'16.904 | 0.741 | 0.036 | 93.155 |
11 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 20 | 1'16.944 | 0.781 | 0.040 | 93.107 |
12 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 21 | 1'16.970 | 0.807 | 0.026 | 93.075 |
13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 21 | 1'17.098 | 0.935 | 0.128 | 92.921 |
14 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 22 | 1'17.116 | 0.953 | 0.018 | 92.899 |
15 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 24 | 1'17.223 | 1.060 | 0.107 | 92.770 |
16 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 18 | 1'17.394 | 1.231 | 0.171 | 92.565 |
17 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 30 | 1'17.424 | 1.261 | 0.030 | 92.529 |
18 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 26 | 1'17.429 | 1.266 | 0.005 | 92.523 |
19 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 21 | 1'17.435 | 1.272 | 0.006 | 92.516 |
20 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 19 | 1'17.457 | 1.294 | 0.022 | 92.490 |
21 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 23 | 1'17.534 | 1.371 | 0.077 | 92.398 |
22 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 24 | 1'17.535 | 1.372 | 0.001 | 92.397 |
23 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 20 | 1'17.571 | 1.408 | 0.036 | 92.354 |
24 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 29 | 1'17.596 | 1.433 | 0.025 | 92.324 |
25 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 15 | 1'17.634 | 1.471 | 0.038 | 92.279 |
26 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 13 | 1'17.772 | 1.609 | 0.138 | 92.115 |
27 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 22 | 1'17.790 | 1.627 | 0.018 | 92.094 |
28 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 23 | 1'17.794 | 1.631 | 0.004 | 92.089 |
29 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 5 | 1'17.808 | 1.645 | 0.014 | 92.073 |
30 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 20 | 1'17.881 | 1.718 | 0.073 | 91.986 |
31 | 15 | Justin Marks | Chevrolet | 15 | 1'17.953 | 1.790 | 0.072 | 91.902 |
32 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 20 | 1'17.990 | 1.827 | 0.037 | 91.858 |
33 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 26 | 1'18.162 | 1.999 | 0.172 | 91.656 |
34 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 22 | 1'18.175 | 2.012 | 0.013 | 91.641 |
35 | 96 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 14 | 1'18.222 | 2.059 | 0.047 | 91.585 |
36 | 51 | Chris Cook | Ford | 7 | 1'18.698 | 2.535 | 0.476 | 91.032 |
37 | 52 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 5 | 1'19.849 | 3.686 | 1.151 | 89.719 |
38 | 00 | Tomy Drissi | Chevrolet | 13 | 1'19.949 | 3.786 | 0.100 | 89.607 |
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