Kyle Busch leads second Dover Cup practice

Busch, who won the pole for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism, posted the overall fastest single-lap speed of 158.040mph (22.779-seconds) in second practice on Saturday morning.

“It’s edgy that’s for sure,” Busch said. “It’s a lot slower than it was last year. I think it’s almost close to half a second – maybe a little bit more than that slower than it was last year, so it’s definitely on edge on entry of the corners. The walls – the way the SAFER barriers are down the straightaways – it also takes away three feet of available real estate that you used to have of being able to arc it off into the corner nice and smooth.

“Now you kind of got to give it more abrupt wheel so that loose on entry is more abrupt and more noticeable that’s for sure and the rest of the corner you’re just trying to maintain a good balance and typically it gets tighter as you get through the corner because you’re just on the right front here so much and so hard that it just continues to build tight. But overall, it’s Dover – that’s typical here. It just kind of shows up more and more the more downforce you take away, your problems become bigger and more prevalent.”

Busch set the fast time of 157.763mph in the opening minutes of practice followed by Jimmie Johnson (157.756mph), Jamie McMurray (157.542mph), Chase Elliott (157.432mph) and Ryan Blaney (157.405mph). Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and Erik Jones rounded out the top 10 single-lap speeds.

Eight minutes into the session, NASCAR waved the yellow flag for debris. Thirty-three cars had posted times with McMurray’s 18 laps the most completed. Three minutes later, the track returned to green.

Martin Truex Jr. bumped Busch from the top spot with a lap of 157.874mph. Blaney leapfrogged over Truex with a lap of 157.929mph before the 20-minute mark. Kyle Busch, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Earnhardt, Jones, McMurray, Logano and Elliott rounded out the top 10.

Just before halfway, Erik Jones spun the No. 77 Toyota in Turn 2 to ignite the second caution in practice. Jones had just completed his 16th lap and was seventh on the speed chart with a lap of 157.556mph. NASCAR briefly red-flagged the track to check for debris.

Cars returned to the track just before the 30-minute mark. Kyle Busch recaptured the top spot with a lap of 158.040mph. With 20-minutes remaining in the 55-minute session, Busch’s fast lap held up but he was pleased with his entry into the corner.

“Entry sucks, we’ve got to do it again,” Busch said.

Busch, Blaney, Truex, Johnson and Kurt Busch were the fast-five with 15 minutes to go. Earnhardt, Jones, McMurray, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (157.480mph) and Logano rounded out the top 10. Jones returned to the track with six minutes to go in the session.

Chase Elliott’s 56 laps were the most completed in the session.

Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Larson were issued 15-minute practice holds for multiple pre-qualifying inspection failures on Friday at Dover International Speedway. Kenseth also lost his pit selection.

McMurray posted the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average speed of 156.448mph followed by Clint Bowyer (156.382mph), Kenseth (156.372mph), Johnson (156.347mph) and Blaney (156.288mph). Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Kasey Kahne, Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon completed the top 10 in the category.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	31	22.779			158.040
2	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	31	22.795	0.016	0.016	157.929
3	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	28	22.803	0.024	0.008	157.874
4	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	33	22.820	0.041	0.017	157.756
5	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	32	22.827	0.048	0.007	157.708
6	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	41	22.832	0.053	0.005	157.673
7	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	23	22.849	0.070	0.017	157.556
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	53	22.851	0.072	0.002	157.542
9	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	30	22.860	0.081	0.009	157.480
10	22	Joey Logano	Ford	35	22.862	0.083	0.002	157.467
11	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	56	22.867	0.088	0.005	157.432
12	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	26	22.880	0.101	0.013	157.343
13	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	36	22.886	0.107	0.006	157.301
14	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	42	22.899	0.120	0.013	157.212
15	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	32	22.932	0.153	0.033	156.986
16	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	36	22.932	0.153	0.000	156.986
17	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	42	22.965	0.186	0.033	156.760
18	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	36	22.967	0.188	0.002	156.747
19	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	42	22.972	0.193	0.005	156.713
20	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	29	22.987	0.208	0.015	156.610
21	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	22	22.997	0.218	0.010	156.542
22	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	29	23.003	0.224	0.006	156.501
23	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	28	23.061	0.282	0.058	156.108
24	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	36	23.078	0.299	0.017	155.993
25	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	30	23.093	0.314	0.015	155.891
26	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	31	23.120	0.341	0.027	155.709
27	43	Regan Smith	Ford	35	23.161	0.382	0.041	155.434
28	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	17	23.162	0.383	0.001	155.427
29	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	28	23.219	0.440	0.057	155.045
30	38	David Ragan	Ford	38	23.249	0.470	0.030	154.845
31	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	35	23.298	0.519	0.049	154.520
32	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	33	23.397	0.618	0.099	153.866
33	83	Ryan Sieg	Toyota	31	23.530	0.751	0.133	152.996
34	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	22	23.574	0.795	0.044	152.711
35	23	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	25	23.617	0.838	0.043	152.433
36	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	23	23.761	0.982	0.144	151.509
37	66	Timmy Hill	Chevrolet	14	23.873	1.094	0.112	150.798
38	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	26	23.970	1.191	0.097	150.188
39	51	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	19	24.141	1.362	0.171	149.124