Kyle Busch tops Truex and Hamlin in final Cup practice

Rain washed out both of Friday’s practice sessions and instead of qualifying on Saturday, NASCAR gave Cup teams one 50-minute practice session.

Kyle Busch’s lap at 168.966 mph was fastest among single-car runs. He was followed close behind by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. (168.460 mph) and Denny Hamlin (168.277 mph).

Busch said the chance to win a second Cup championship this season is “huge.”

“It’s our opportunity to succeed and you know God’s given us every opportunity to go do that. Joe, Coy Gibbs, everybody on this Joe Gibbs Racing team, they’re phenomenal and I know we’ll all be trying our best remembering J.D. (Gibbs) and his legacy,” Busch said.

“Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and the guys had great race cars for me all season long and especially the last several weeks. We just haven’t gotten into Victory Lane. That’s what it’s likely going to take to win the championship on Sunday.

“We’ll see if we can get it done.”

Busch, Truex, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick will compete for the 2019 series championship in Sunday’s Ford 400. 

Brad Keselowski was fourth-fastest and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 speeds were Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Harvick and Erik Jones.

Hamlin ended up with the fastest average lap speed (163.981 mph) among all the drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps. Kyle Busch and Truex were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	44	31.959			168.966
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	47	32.055	0.096	0.096	168.460
3	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	46	32.090	0.131	0.035	168.277
4	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	58	32.163	0.204	0.073	167.895
5	22	Joey Logano		Ford	50	32.172	0.213	0.009	167.848
6	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	52	32.276	0.317	0.104	167.307
7	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	46	32.314	0.355	0.038	167.110
8	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	53	32.352	0.393	0.038	166.914
9	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	47	32.373	0.414	0.021	166.806
10	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	47	32.383	0.424	0.010	166.754
11	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	48	32.436	0.477	0.053	166.482
12	21	Paul Menard		Ford	51	32.438	0.479	0.002	166.471
13	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	53	32.443	0.484	0.005	166.446
14	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	32	32.482	0.523	0.039	166.246
15	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	52	32.487	0.528	0.005	166.220
16	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	44	32.510	0.551	0.023	166.103
17	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	39	32.538	0.579	0.028	165.960
18	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	49	32.563	0.604	0.025	165.832
19	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	46	32.624	0.665	0.061	165.522
20	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	42	32.757	0.798	0.133	164.850
21	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	48	32.782	0.823	0.025	164.725
22	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	44	32.879	0.920	0.097	164.239
23	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	29	32.900	0.941	0.021	164.134
24	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	43	32.902	0.943	0.002	164.124
25	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	45	32.944	0.985	0.042	163.915
26	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	38	32.951	0.992	0.007	163.880
27	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	45	32.985	1.026	0.034	163.711
28	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	48	33.013	1.054	0.028	163.572
29	38	David Ragan		Ford	40	33.061	1.102	0.048	163.334
30	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	36	33.199	1.240	0.138	162.656
31	36	John Hunter Nemechek		Ford	42	33.370	1.411	0.171	161.822
32	96	Drew Herring		Toyota	23	33.617	1.658	0.247	160.633
33	27	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	29	33.727	1.768	0.110	160.109
34	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	25	34.009	2.050	0.282	158.781
35	51	J.J. Yeley		Ford	22	34.123	2.164	0.114	158.251
36	15	Joe Nemechek		Chevrolet	17	34.558	2.599	0.435	156.259
37	53	B.J. McLeod		Chevrolet	7	34.628	2.669	0.070	155.943
38	77	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	4	34.771	2.812	0.143	155.302
39	52	Josh Bilicki		Ford	15	35.331	3.372	0.560	152.840
40	66	Timmy Hill		Toyota	10	35.377	3.418	0.046	152.642