Kurt Busch leads the way in first Darlington practice
Kurt Busch rocketed to the top of the leaderboard in the final minutes to lead Friday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session.
Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images
Busch’s average lap speed of 171.261 mph, set at the end of the 55-minute session at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, topped William Byron (170.703 mph) and Aric Almirola (170.065 mph).
Busch, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, has made 22 career starts at Darlington without a victory. His best finish is a pair of thirds (2017 and 2010).
Alex Bowman ended up fourth and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 were Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney, Paul Menard and Martin Truex Jr.
Brad Keselowski, who won this race a year ago, ended up 19th-fastest.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 34 | 28.714 | 171.261 | |||
2 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 29 | 28.808 | 0.094 | 0.094 | 170.703 | |
3 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 18 | 28.916 | 0.202 | 0.108 | 170.065 | |
4 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 26 | 28.929 | 0.215 | 0.013 | 169.989 | |
5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 26 | 28.985 | 0.271 | 0.056 | 169.660 | |
6 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 20 | 29.016 | 0.302 | 0.031 | 169.479 | |
7 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 23 | 29.070 | 0.356 | 0.054 | 169.164 | |
8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 21 | 29.120 | 0.406 | 0.050 | 168.874 | |
9 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 16 | 29.134 | 0.420 | 0.014 | 168.792 | |
10 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 27 | 29.135 | 0.421 | 0.001 | 168.787 | |
11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 31 | 29.196 | 0.482 | 0.061 | 168.434 | |
12 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 19 | 29.199 | 0.485 | 0.003 | 168.417 | |
13 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 17 | 29.201 | 0.487 | 0.002 | 168.405 | |
14 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 29 | 29.205 | 0.491 | 0.004 | 168.382 | |
15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 29 | 29.224 | 0.510 | 0.019 | 168.273 | |
16 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 23 | 29.238 | 0.524 | 0.014 | 168.192 | |
17 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 27 | 29.247 | 0.533 | 0.009 | 168.140 | |
18 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Ford | 30 | 29.256 | 0.542 | 0.009 | 168.089 | |
19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 15 | 29.338 | 0.624 | 0.082 | 167.619 | |
20 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 28 | 29.362 | 0.648 | 0.024 | 167.482 | |
21 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 33 | 29.395 | 0.681 | 0.033 | 167.294 | |
22 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 20 | 29.437 | 0.723 | 0.042 | 167.055 | |
23 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 28 | 29.519 | 0.805 | 0.082 | 166.591 | |
24 | 8 | Daniel Hemric | Chevrolet | 12 | 29.552 | 0.838 | 0.033 | 166.405 | |
25 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 22 | 29.565 | 0.851 | 0.013 | 166.332 | |
26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 20 | 29.595 | 0.881 | 0.030 | 166.163 | |
27 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Ford | 14 | 29.643 | 0.929 | 0.048 | 165.894 | |
28 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 18 | 29.692 | 0.978 | 0.049 | 165.620 | |
29 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 31 | 29.809 | 1.095 | 0.117 | 164.970 | |
30 | 47 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 20 | 29.906 | 1.192 | 0.097 | 164.435 | |
31 | 36 | Matt Tifft | Ford | 22 | 29.916 | 1.202 | 0.010 | 164.380 | |
32 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 18 | 30.146 | 1.432 | 0.230 | 163.126 | |
33 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 23 | 30.217 | 1.503 | 0.071 | 162.743 | |
34 | 52 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 6 | 30.277 | 1.563 | 0.060 | 162.420 | |
35 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Ford | 4 | 30.484 | 1.770 | 0.207 | 161.317 | |
36 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 14 | 30.534 | 1.820 | 0.050 | 161.053 | |
37 | 54 | Garrett Smithley | Chevrolet | 4 | 30.851 | 2.137 | 0.317 | 159.398 | |
38 | 27 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | 9 | 30.964 | 2.250 | 0.113 | 158.817 |
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