Kyle Busch tops Truex and Hamlin in final Cup practice
Kyle Busch ended up fastest in the only practice session NASCAR Cup Series teams had this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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 |
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About this article
| Series | NASCAR Cup |
| Event | Homestead |
| Author | Jim Utter |
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