SPARTA, Ky. — Report by Race Chaser Online Associate Editor Kyle Magda — Ryan Kent photo —
The number one spot on the scoring pylon at Kentucky Speedway didn’t change through either of the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practices Friday.
Not only did Kyle Larson post the fastest mock qualifying run in first practice, he backed it up by turning the fastest speed at 178.412 mph in happy hour before Saturday night’s Quaker State 400.
“The Target Chevy, we got it better throughout practice,” Larson said to NBC Sports Network after final practice. “Our fire-off speed was really good. We just fell off a lot. I think in traffic I felt free or two, so we’ll have to figure that out some. It was a decent practice.”
Defending race winner Brad Keselowski was right behind Larson for the second time today, passing Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano late in the session to post a time of — second (mph). Logano was third at — mph and starts fourth in the Quaker State 400.
Denny Hamlin was the fastest Toyota in fourth (177.626 mph). Hamlin is practically guaranteed a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with a victory in March at Martinsville. Three of the four Joe Gibbs Racing cars were in the top-10, with Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth in seventh and 10th, respectively.
In the last few minutes of practice, Kenseth lost control of his No. 20 Dollar General Toyota coming out of turn 4, but sustained no damage to the race car. The track crew towed the rear end of Kenseth’s car back to pit road so the hook wouldn’t damage the front end to the car. The 2003 Cup champ has a win at the 1.5-mile track, coming in 2013 during Kentucky’s only day Cup race.
Two-time winner this season, Kurt Busch, led the Stewart-Haas Racing squad in fifth. One week after his violent crash on the final lap of the Coke Zero 400, Austin Dillon was sixth-quick and fastest among the Richard Childress Racing cars.
Ky. Busch, Jimmie Johnson, July Daytona winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth rounded out the top-10. Five Cup drivers (Keselowski, Ky. Busch, J.J. Yeley, Earnhardt and Paul Menard) are competing in tonight’s XFINITY Series Kentucky 300.
The next time the Cup cars will see the track is Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 and shown live at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
RESULTS: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; Quaker State 400 Final Practice; Kentucky Speedway; July 10, 2015
- Kyle Larson
- Brad Keselowski
- Joey Logano
- Denny Hamlin
- Kurt Busch
- Austin Dillon
- Kyle Busch
- Jimmie Johnson
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Matt Kenseth
- Sam Hornish Jr.
- Jeff Gordon
- Danica Patrick
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Kevin Harvick
- Paul Menard
- Martin Truex Jr.
- A.J. Allmendinger
- Carl Edwards
- Greg Biffle
- Jamie McMurray
- Kasey Kahne
- Trevor Bayne
- Casey Mears
- David Ragan
- Justin Allgaier
- Ryan Newman
- Tony Stewart
- Aric Almirola
- Clint Bowyer
- Alex Bowman
- Landon Cassill
- David Gilliland
- Jeb Burton
- Michael Annett
- Cole Whitt
- Josh Wise
- Brett Moffitt
- J.J. Yeley
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Reed Sorenson
- Will Kimmel
- Alex Kennedy