Kyle Busch fastest in Friday's shortened Cup practice session
Pocono Raceway’s most recent NASCAR Cup Series winner, Kyle Busch, led the way in Friday’s shortened practice session.
Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images
Busch, who is fresh off his fourth Cup win of the season last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, posted an average lap speed of 176.939 mph to top Friday’s only practice.
Alex Bowman ended up second-fastest (175.490 mph) and Clint Bowyer was third (175.486 mph). Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.
Completing the Top 10 were Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Paul Menard and Martin Truex Jr.
The start of the practice was delayed by 15 minutes as track workers continued to work to resolve weepers on the track left from rain overnight and early Friday morning.
“The hardest part of the track, for me, is probably Turn 1, and then Turn 2 is the second-hardest, and then Turn 3 is the third-hardest – Turn 3, last year, because of the patch they laid down,” Busch said.
“We couldn’t go down low and get underneath somebody and get a run on them because, when you come off the corner, you’re 8 to 10 mph slower than the guy on your outside and they’re just going to blow right by you going down the straightaway.”
The teams of Jimmie Johnson, Truex and Ross Chastain were all held out of the final 15 minutes of the practice session because each of their teams failed pre-race inspection twice last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 5 | 50.865 | 176.939 | ||
2 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 8 | 51.285 | 0.420 | 0.420 | 175.490 |
3 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 12 | 51.286 | 0.421 | 0.001 | 175.486 |
4 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 5 | 51.296 | 0.431 | 0.010 | 175.452 |
5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 11 | 51.347 | 0.482 | 0.051 | 175.278 |
6 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 5 | 51.377 | 0.512 | 0.030 | 175.176 |
7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 9 | 51.416 | 0.551 | 0.039 | 175.043 |
8 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 9 | 51.469 | 0.604 | 0.053 | 174.863 |
9 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 5 | 51.517 | 0.652 | 0.048 | 174.700 |
10 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 5 | 51.541 | 0.676 | 0.024 | 174.618 |
11 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 7 | 51.563 | 0.698 | 0.022 | 174.544 |
12 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 6 | 51.597 | 0.732 | 0.034 | 174.429 |
13 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 8 | 51.625 | 0.760 | 0.028 | 174.334 |
14 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 11 | 51.701 | 0.836 | 0.076 | 174.078 |
15 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 6 | 51.739 | 0.874 | 0.038 | 173.950 |
16 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 11 | 51.803 | 0.938 | 0.064 | 173.735 |
17 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 5 | 51.816 | 0.951 | 0.013 | 173.692 |
18 | 6 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 9 | 51.852 | 0.987 | 0.036 | 173.571 |
19 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 7 | 51.903 | 1.038 | 0.051 | 173.400 |
20 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 8 | 51.980 | 1.115 | 0.077 | 173.144 |
21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 5 | 51.987 | 1.122 | 0.007 | 173.120 |
22 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 8 | 52.058 | 1.193 | 0.071 | 172.884 |
23 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 7 | 52.099 | 1.234 | 0.041 | 172.748 |
24 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 9 | 52.132 | 1.267 | 0.033 | 172.639 |
25 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 7 | 52.380 | 1.515 | 0.248 | 171.821 |
26 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 5 | 52.521 | 1.656 | 0.141 | 171.360 |
27 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 10 | 52.713 | 1.848 | 0.192 | 170.736 |
28 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 12 | 52.757 | 1.892 | 0.044 | 170.593 |
29 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 7 | 52.846 | 1.981 | 0.089 | 170.306 |
30 | 51 | Cole Custer | Chevrolet | 19 | 53.281 | 2.416 | 0.435 | 168.916 |
31 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 14 | 53.317 | 2.452 | 0.036 | 168.802 |
32 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 2 | 53.683 | 2.818 | 0.366 | 167.651 |
33 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 7 | 54.134 | 3.269 | 0.451 | 166.254 |
34 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 9 | 54.459 | 3.594 | 0.325 | 165.262 |
35 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 13 | 54.564 | 3.699 | 0.105 | 164.944 |
36 | 7 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 9 | 54.690 | 3.825 | 0.126 | 164.564 |
37 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 3 | 54.989 | 4.124 | 0.299 | 163.669 |
38 | 99 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 4 | 55.087 | 4.222 | 0.098 | 163.378 |
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