Kevin Harvick fastest in Kansas Cup practice delayed by weepers

Fresh off his fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, Harvick went out late in the two-plus hour session and rocketed to the top of the speed chart.

Harvick’s average lap speed of 186.149 mph topped his closest rival, Kyle Larson (185.982 mph), who made a final attempt just before the conclusion of the session. Kyle Busch ended up third-fastest (185.166 mph).

Erik Jones was fourth and Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Clint Bowyer, completed the top-five.

“I feel like this has honestly been one of our best race tracks as I’ve gone through the years, and especially since I’ve come to SHR,” Harvick said Friday at Kansas Speedway. “I don’t feel like we’ve won as many races here as we probably should have – some of it of our own doing and some of it just circumstances.

“But we’ve always run really, really well here and, for me, I look forward to coming here for a number of different reasons.”

Rounding out the Top 10 were Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr., who has won the last two races at Kansas.

Delayed by weepers

Nearly 24 minutes into the session, the caution was displayed as weepers began appearing on the track surface in Turn 2. A bump had emerged in the track and several drivers thought the track was coming apart.

Track workers drilled holes and cut lines in the asphalt which produced small fountains of water spouting up from underneath.

“It kind of looked like the track was coming up. That’s what I said the first lap I went out there, I thought the track was coming apart,” Logano said. “Apparently it has something to do with water and they’ve taken a really big saw to it.

“Hopefully they can fix the track and we can get back out there and keep working on it. I’m sure they’ll figure out what the heck is going on.”

Paul Menard was the first driver to return to the track after workers had completed repairs and didn’t appear to have any issues.

Nearly 50 minutes into the session, Matt Kenseth – making his first series start since the 2017 season finale at Homestead, Fla. – got on the track for the first time in Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 6 Ford. He ended up 28th-fastest.

Three drivers – Austin Dillon, Harvick and Ryan Newman – lost 15 minutes of practice for failing pre-race inspection twice at Dover. Larson and Alex Bowman both lost 30 minutes of practice for failing pre-race inspection at Dover three times.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	32	29.009			186.149
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	44	29.035	0.026	0.026	185.982
3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	39	29.163	0.154	0.128	185.166
4	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	40	29.247	0.238	0.084	184.634
5	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	50	29.270	0.261	0.023	184.489
6	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	41	29.274	0.265	0.004	184.464
7	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	52	29.299	0.290	0.025	184.307
8	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	46	29.307	0.298	0.008	184.256
9	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	45	29.318	0.309	0.011	184.187
10	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	33	29.322	0.313	0.004	184.162
11	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	48	29.328	0.319	0.006	184.124
12	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	30	29.335	0.326	0.007	184.080
13	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	38	29.388	0.379	0.053	183.748
14	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	49	29.434	0.425	0.046	183.461
15	21	Paul Menard	Ford	45	29.440	0.431	0.006	183.424
16	38	David Ragan	Ford	37	29.466	0.457	0.026	183.262
17	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	38	29.470	0.461	0.004	183.237
18	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	37	29.496	0.487	0.026	183.076
19	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	27	29.505	0.496	0.009	183.020
20	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	34	29.533	0.524	0.028	182.846
21	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	33	29.583	0.574	0.050	182.537
22	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	25	29.587	0.578	0.004	182.513
23	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	32	29.738	0.729	0.151	181.586
24	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	38	29.777	0.768	0.039	181.348
25	22	Joey Logano	Ford	66	29.795	0.786	0.018	181.238
26	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	40	29.829	0.820	0.034	181.032
27	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	25	29.884	0.875	0.055	180.699
28	6	Matt Kenseth	Ford	38	30.049	1.040	0.165	179.706
29	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	46	30.095	1.086	0.046	179.432
30	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	38	30.124	1.115	0.029	179.259
31	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	42	30.538	1.529	0.414	176.829
32	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	26	31.039	2.030	0.501	173.975
33	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	23	31.067	2.058	0.028	173.818
34	55	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	23	31.089	2.080	0.022	173.695
35	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	23	31.181	2.172	0.092	173.182
36	23	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	29	31.300	2.291	0.119	172.524
37	51	B.J. McLeod	Ford	11	31.631	2.622	0.331	170.719
38	66	Carl Long	Toyota	13	31.847	2.838	0.216	169.561