Keselowski leads first Cup practice at Kansas
Brad Keselowski rocketed to the top of the speed chart in the final minute of Friday’s first NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Kansas Speedway.
Keselowski, who won this race in the spring, made a mock qualifying run late in the 55-minute session and his average lap speed of 176.499 mph ended up fastest.
Fellow Ford drivers Aric Almirola (176.390 mph) and Daniel Suarez (176.332 mph) ended up second and third, respectively. Denny Hamlin and last weekend’s race winner, Ryan Blaney, completed the top-five.
“Anytime you come back to a track you won at it gives you a lot of confidence. We won this race in the spring and won Martinsville in the spring as well and they are back-to-back races,” Keselowski said Friday.
“We are coming into these two races feeling pretty good.”
In 19 career starts at Kansas, Keselowski has two wins, four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes and has won one pole.
Rounding out the top-10 single-lap speeds were Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick and Daniel Hemric.
| Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |  Brad Keselowski |
Ford | 27 | 30.595 | 176.499 | |||
| 2 | 10 | Aric Almirola |
Ford | 26 | 30.614 | 00.019 | 00.019 | 176.390 | |
| 3 | 41 |  Daniel Suarez |
Ford | 29 | 30.624 | 00.029 | 00.010 | 176.332 | |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
Toyota | 25 | 30.682 | 00.087 | 00.058 | 175.999 | |
| 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney |
Ford | 18 | 30.778 | 00.183 | 00.096 | 175.450 | |
| 6 | 1 | Kurt Busch |
Chevrolet | 26 | 30.792 | 00.197 | 00.014 | 175.370 | |
| 7 | 21 | Paul Menard |
Ford | 26 | 30.803 | 00.208 | 00.011 | 175.308 | |
| 8 | 3 | Austin Dillon |
Chevrolet | 29 | 30.857 | 00.262 | 00.054 | 175.001 | |
| 9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick |
Ford | 28 | 30.876 | 00.281 | 00.019 | 174.893 | |
| 10 | 8 | Daniel Hemric |
Chevrolet | 28 | 30.888 | 00.293 | 00.012 | 174.825 | |
| 11 | 42 | Kyle Larson |
Chevrolet | 39 | 30.902 | 00.307 | 00.014 | 174.746 | |
| 12 | 20 | Erik Jones |
Toyota | 29 | 30.904 | 00.309 | 00.002 | 174.735 | |
| 13 | 22 | Joey Logano |
Ford | 31 | 30.915 | 00.320 | 00.011 | 174.672 | |
| 14 | 6 | Ryan Newman |
Ford | 23 | 30.954 | 00.359 | 00.039 | 174.452 | |
| 15 | 14 | Clint Bowyer |
Ford | 31 | 30.961 | 00.366 | 00.007 | 174.413 | |
| 16 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
Ford | 26 | 30.975 | 00.380 | 00.014 | 174.334 | |
| 17 | 37 | Chris Buescher |
Chevrolet | 17 | 30.979 | 00.384 | 00.004 | 174.312 | |
| 18 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. |
Chevrolet | 19 | 30.992 | 00.397 | 00.013 | 174.239 | |
| 19 | 13 | Ty Dillon |
Chevrolet | 26 | 30.997 | 00.402 | 00.005 | 174.210 | |
| 20 | 24 | William Byron |
Chevrolet | 37 | 31.000 | 00.405 | 00.003 | 174.194 | |
| 21 | 88 | Alex Bowman |
Chevrolet | 38 | 31.021 | 00.426 | 00.021 | 174.076 | |
| 22 | 18 | Kyle Busch |
Toyota | 24 | 31.024 | 00.429 | 00.003 | 174.059 | |
| 23 | 9 | Chase Elliott |
Chevrolet | 26 | 31.075 | 00.480 | 00.051 | 173.773 | |
| 24 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet | 55 | 31.085 | 00.490 | 00.010 | 173.717 | |
| 25 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. |
Toyota | 14 | 31.098 | 00.503 | 00.013 | 173.645 | |
| 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell |
Ford | 18 | 31.126 | 00.531 | 00.028 | 173.488 | |
| 27 | 36 | Matt Tifft |
Ford | 15 | 31.165 | 00.570 | 00.039 | 173.271 | |
| 28 | 38 | David Ragan |
Ford | 20 | 31.303 | 00.708 | 00.138 | 172.507 | |
| 29 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto |
Toyota | 30 | 31.342 | 00.747 | 00.039 | 172.293 | |
| 30 | 00 | Landon Cassill |
Chevrolet | 26 | 31.377 | 00.782 | 00.035 | 172.101 | |
| 31 | 32 | Corey Lajoie |
Ford | 17 | 31.448 | 00.853 | 00.071 | 171.712 | |
| 32 | 47 | Ryan Preece |
Chevrolet | 17 | 31.453 | 00.858 | 00.005 | 171.685 | |
| 33 | 51 | J.J. Yeley |
Ford | 16 | 31.512 | 00.917 | 00.059 | 171.363 | |
| 34 | 15 | Ross Chastain |
Chevrolet | 18 | 31.711 | 01.116 | 00.199 | 170.288 | |
| 35 | 27 | Reed Sorenson |
Chevrolet | 19 | 31.955 | 01.360 | 00.244 | 168.988 | |
| 36 | 96 | Parker Kligerman |
Toyota | 20 | 31.975 | 01.380 | 00.020 | 168.882 | |
| 37 | 52 | Garrett Smithley |
Ford | 13 | 32.216 | 01.621 | 00.241 | 167.619 | |
| 38 | 53 | Josh Bilicki |
Ford | 7 | 33.035 | 02.440 | 00.819 | 163.463 | |
| 39 | 77 | Timmy Hill |
Chevrolet | 13 | 33.036 | 02.441 | 00.001 | 163.458 | |
| 40 | 66 | Joey Gase |
Toyota | 14 | 33.209 | 02.614 | 00.173 | 162.607 |
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