Kyle Larson tops first Cup practice at Dover

Larson’s speed of 159.915mph held up for the top spot followed by Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott.

“Dover has always been a track I’ve enjoy racing, so I’m looking forward to getting there this weekend and moving passed our race at Charlotte,” Larson said. “The first Dover was kind of where we started running better last season, so hopefully it’s a good track to pick our momentum back up.

“Our Chevy’s continue to be really fast and we’ve qualified pretty good this season when we’ve been able to, and that will be important this weekend as we try to get back some of the points we lost last weekend.”

Thirty minutes into the session, Kyle Busch led the session with a lap of 159.398mph after just two laps. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth (158.961mph) followed by fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. (157,598mph) rounded out the top-three speeds following their initial runs.

Ten-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson was fourth fast (156.986mph) with Ricky Stenhosue Jr. (156.924mph), Ryan Blaney (156.924mph), Ty Dillon (156.890mph), Kurt Busch (156.658mph), Kevin Harvick (156.624mph) and Brad Keselowski (156.610mph) rounding out the top 10.

All 39 drivers had completed runs in the first 35 minutes. Larson jumped up to third on the chart just before the 40-minute mark. After 14 laps, Larson’s best lap was 158.863mph. Kurt Busch returned to the track next in qualifying trim and moved up to fourth with a speed of 158.068mph after completing his sixth lap.

After the first hour, Larson had vaulted to the top with a speed of 159.915mph. Kenseth (159.603mph) was second followed by Kyle Busch (159.398mph), Kurt Busch and Keselowski. Dale Earnhardt was sixth following his second run with Blaney, Chase Elliott, Johnson and Clint Bowyer rounding out the top 10.

In the final five minutes, Martin Truex Jr. moved back into the top five with a lap of 159.208mph after his eighth lap. Brad Keselowski was sixth (158.898mph) following his qualifying run. Suarez also cracked the top 10 with a lap of 158.493mph.

Elliott’s 38 laps were the most completed during the one hour, 25 minute session.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	18	22.512			159.915
2	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	9	22.556	0.044	0.044	159.603
3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	9	22.585	0.073	0.029	159.398
4	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	8	22.612	0.100	0.027	159.208
5	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	10	22.636	0.124	0.024	159.039
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	20	22.656	0.144	0.020	158.898
7	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	18	22.686	0.174	0.030	158.688
8	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	19	22.695	0.183	0.009	158.625
9	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	16	22.714	0.202	0.019	158.493
10	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	38	22.722	0.210	0.008	158.437