Practice report
NASCAR Cup Richmond II
Chris Buescher is surprise leader of Friday's first Cup practice
Chris Buescher topped Friday’s first NASCAR Cup Series practice, the only non-playoff driver in the top-10.
Jim Utter
Edited: Sep 22, 2019, 1:40 PM
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Buescher set his average lap speed of 121.147 mph early in the 50-minute session at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and it stood the entire time.
In seven career Cup starts at Richmond, Buescher’s best finish 17th in 2017.
Joey Logano ended up second (120.962 mph) and William Byron was third (120.827 mph). Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson completed the top-five.
Rounding out the top-10 were Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Ryan Newman.
Martin Truex Jr., who won this race in the spring and last weekend’s playoff opener at Las Vegas, ended up 13th.
Larson was fastest among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps. Jones and Clint Bowyer were second and third, respectively, in that category.
Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 37 
Chris Buescher Chevrolet 42 22.287 121.147 2 22 Joey Logano Ford 41 22.321 0.034 0.034 120.962 3 24 William Byron Chevrolet 46 22.346 0.059 0.025 120.827 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 43 22.372 0.085 0.026 120.687 5 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 33 22.409 0.122 0.037 120.487 6 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 49 22.477 0.190 0.068 120.123 7 20 Erik Jones Toyota 49 22.479 0.192 0.002 120.112 8 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 48 22.481 0.194 0.002 120.101 9 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 61 22.510 0.223 0.029 119.947 10 6 Ryan Newman Ford 41 22.516 0.229 0.006 119.915 11 21 Paul Menard Ford 39 22.519 0.232 0.003 119.899 12 41 
Daniel Suarez Ford 57 22.550 0.263 0.031 119.734 13 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 50 22.552 0.265 0.002 119.723 14 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 54 22.556 0.269 0.004 119.702 15 8 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 45 22.558 0.271 0.002 119.691 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 34 22.578 0.291 0.020 119.585 17 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 60 22.593 0.306 0.015 119.506 18 10 Aric Almirola Ford 57 22.599 0.312 0.006 119.474 19 47 Ryan Preece Chevrolet 39 22.605 0.318 0.006 119.443 20 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 45 22.607 0.320 0.002 119.432 21 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 36 22.607 0.320 0.0 119.432 22 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 47 22.633 0.346 0.026 119.295 23 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 50 22.640 0.353 0.007 119.258 24 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 66 22.651 0.364 0.011 119.200 25 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 39 22.652 0.365 0.001 119.195 26 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 50 22.657 0.370 0.005 119.168 27 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 39 22.809 0.522 0.152 118.374 28 32 Corey Lajoie Ford 40 22.827 0.540 0.018 118.281 29 34 Michael McDowell Ford 45 22.875 0.588 0.048 118.033 30 38 David Ragan Ford 37 22.891 0.604 0.016 117.950 31 36 Matt Tifft Ford 27 22.963 0.676 0.072 117.580 32 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 35 23.050 0.763 0.087 117.137 33 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 25 23.156 0.869 0.106 116.600 34 77 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 15 23.442 1.155 0.286 115.178 35 52 J.J. Yeley Ford 21 23.502 1.215 0.060 114.884 36 27 Quin Houff Chevrolet 20 23.536 1.249 0.034 114.718 37 53 Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 14 23.724 1.437 0.188 113.809 38 51 Austin Theriault Chevrolet 6 24.172 1.885 0.448 111.699
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