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Team Penske fastest in Saturday's first Cup practice at Dover

Team Penske was first out and led the way in Saturday’s first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Dover.

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Miller Lite

Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Miller Lite

John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Shell Pennzoil
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Miller Lite and Travis Geisler
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Miller Lite
Joey Logano, Team Penske, Ford Fusion Shell Pennzoil

Teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski were the first two cars on the track for Saturday’s first practice session and went right to the top of the speed chart, where they remained until its conclusion.

“Early bird gets the worm,” Logano said over his team radio as he completed his first lap.

Logano’s top average lap speed was 157.494 mph, just edging Keselowski (157.453 mph). Martin Truex Jr. ended up third-fastest (157.048 mph).

Chase Elliott was fourth and Aric Almirola completed the top-five.

Despite qualifying 18th for Sunday’s AAA 400, Logano said Dover is one of his favorite tracks.

“I started my first Xfinity race here back in 2008 so Dover has always been a special place for me. It is a bad-ass race track. That part never changes every time I get out there,” he said.

“This has been probably a weaker race track for Team Penske as of late. We have run well here but the last two or three years have been kind of a little bit of a struggle for us. Hopefully the speed we have had in our cars the last few weeks and things we have learned in the past here we can make our cars quick here.”

Rounding out the Top 10 in practice were Kevin Harvick, pole-winner Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kurt Busch and rookie William Byron. Kurt Busch completed the most laps in the session (50).

Five teams – those of Trevor Bayne, Daniel Suarez, Gray Gaulding, Derrike Cope and Kasey Kahne – were forced to sit out the final 15 minutes of the session for being late to qualifying inspection on Friday.

Corey LaJoie, in the No. 72 Chevrolet, got back on track Saturday after missing Friday’s qualifying session. His car lost its engine at the end of Friday practice and wasn’t ready in time for the start of Round 1 of qualifying.

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph
1 22 united_states Joey Logano  Ford 37 22.858     157.494
2 2 united_states Brad Keselowski  Ford 35 22.864 0.006 0.006 157.453
3 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 22 22.923 0.065 0.059 157.048
4 9 united_states Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 40 22.947 0.089 0.024 156.883
5 10 united_states Aric Almirola  Ford 20 22.951 0.093 0.004 156.856
6 4 united_states Kevin Harvick  Ford 35 22.953 0.095 0.002 156.842
7 42 united_states Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 30 22.954 0.096 0.001 156.835
8 17 united_states Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 28 22.961 0.103 0.007 156.788
9 41 united_states Kurt Busch  Ford 50 22.969 0.111 0.008 156.733
10 24 united_states William Byron  Chevrolet 44 22.982 0.124 0.013 156.644
11 88 united_states Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 37 22.982 0.124 0.000 156.644
12 14 united_states Clint Bowyer  Ford 37 23.000 0.142 0.018 156.522
13 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 36 23.001 0.143 0.001 156.515
14 21 united_states Paul Menard  Ford 40 23.019 0.161 0.018 156.393
15 18 united_states Kyle Busch  Toyota 28 23.020 0.162 0.001 156.386
16 38 united_states David Ragan  Ford 24 23.026 0.168 0.006 156.345
17 19 mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota 22 23.047 0.189 0.021 156.203
18 95 united_states Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 25 23.058 0.200 0.011 156.128
19 31 united_states Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 35 23.067 0.209 0.009 156.067
20 12 united_states Ryan Blaney  Ford 30 23.080 0.222 0.013 155.979
21 20 united_states Erik Jones  Toyota 32 23.083 0.225 0.003 155.959
22 11 united_states Denny Hamlin  Toyota 34 23.091 0.233 0.008 155.905
23 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 45 23.098 0.240 0.007 155.858
24 1 united_states Jamie McMurray  Chevrolet 36 23.103 0.245 0.005 155.824
25 3 united_states Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 38 23.148 0.290 0.045 155.521
26 6 united_states Trevor Bayne  Ford 19 23.173 0.315 0.025 155.353
27 34 united_states Michael McDowell  Ford 24 23.184 0.326 0.011 155.280
28 37 united_states Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 28 23.239 0.381 0.055 154.912
29 43 united_states Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 47 23.270 0.412 0.031 154.706
30 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto  Ford 29 23.375 0.517 0.105 154.011
31 13 united_states Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 30 23.428 0.570 0.053 153.662
32 00 united_states Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 20 23.667 0.809 0.239 152.111
33 23 united_states Gray Gaulding  Toyota 24 23.747 0.889 0.080 151.598
34 15 united_states Ross Chastain  Chevrolet 24 23.753 0.895 0.006 151.560
35 72 united_states Corey Lajoie  Chevrolet 20 23.873 1.015 0.120 150.798
36 55 united_states Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 8 23.962 1.104 0.089 150.238
37 99 united_states Derrike Cope  Chevrolet 16 24.643 1.785 0.681 146.086
38 51 united_states Cody Ware  Ford 27 24.656 1.798 0.013 146.009

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