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Kurt Busch fastest in Friday's final Cup practice at Las Vegas

Kurt Busch was fastest in Friday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kurt Busch, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Kurt Busch, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Busch’s average lap speed of 177.276 mph topped the Team Penske duo of Joey Logano (176.783 mph) and Brad Keselowski (176.321 mph).

In 19 career starts at his hometown track, Busch has never won but has two top-five and five top-10 finishes and has won two poles.

“When we raced here in March, the high groove in (Turns) 3 and 4 was the first ever time that I’ve seen the Cup guys up there. So, I believe that will be a factor in Sunday’s race. We’ll see,” Busch said. 

“We have nightfall as well and that will be the first time we’ve raced under the lights here at Las Vegas. I think that’s a great look for everything and everybody thinks of Vegas as the Strip and the skyline at night.”

Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney were fourth and fifth as playoff contenders swept the top-five.

Rounding the out the top-10 in practice were Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Newman.

Kyle Busch had the best average lap speed among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps (175.106 mph). Elliott and Logano were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Read Also:

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 1 United States Kurt Busch  Chevrolet 27 30.461     177.276
2 22 United States Joey Logano  Ford 53 30.546 0.085 0.085 176.783
3 2 United States Brad Keselowski  Ford 46 30.626 0.165 0.080 176.321
4 9 United States Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 44 30.643 0.182 0.017 176.223
5 12 United States Ryan Blaney  Ford 47 30.662 0.201 0.019 176.114
6 18 United States Kyle Busch  Toyota 34 30.682 0.221 0.020 175.999
7 4 United States Kevin Harvick  Ford 43 30.686 0.225 0.004 175.976
8 41 Mexico Daniel Suarez  Ford 38 30.699 0.238 0.013 175.901
9 19 United States Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 30 30.710 0.249 0.011 175.838
10 6 United States Ryan Newman  Ford 35 30.717 0.256 0.007 175.798
11 20 United States Erik Jones  Toyota 43 30.722 0.261 0.005 175.770
12 11 United States Denny Hamlin  Toyota 35 30.725 0.264 0.003 175.753
13 48 United States Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 50 30.726 0.265 0.001 175.747
14 21 United States Paul Menard  Ford 38 30.736 0.275 0.010 175.690
15 24 United States William Byron  Chevrolet 48 30.749 0.288 0.013 175.615
16 47 United States Ryan Preece  Chevrolet 25 30.775 0.314 0.026 175.467
17 14 United States Clint Bowyer  Ford 32 30.778 0.317 0.003 175.450
18 88 United States Alex Bowman  Chevrolet 50 30.782 0.321 0.004 175.427
19 42 United States Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 28 30.813 0.352 0.031 175.251
20 17 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 48 30.815 0.354 0.002 175.239
21 3 United States Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 37 30.825 0.364 0.010 175.182
22 10 United States Aric Almirola  Ford 40 30.860 0.399 0.035 174.984
23 13 United States Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 48 30.896 0.435 0.036 174.780
24 38 United States David Ragan  Ford 25 30.918 0.457 0.022 174.656
25 43 United States Darrell Wallace Jr.  Chevrolet 34 31.015 0.554 0.097 174.109
26 34 United States Michael McDowell  Ford 25 31.038 0.577 0.023 173.980
27 95 United States Matt DiBenedetto  Toyota 35 31.103 0.642 0.065 173.617
28 37 United States Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 33 31.109 0.648 0.006 173.583
29 8 United States Daniel Hemric  Chevrolet 24 31.159 0.698 0.050 173.305
30 32 United States Corey Lajoie  Ford 13 31.207 0.746 0.048 173.038
31 36 United States Matt Tifft  Ford 26 31.508 1.047 0.301 171.385
32 00 United States Landon Cassill  Chevrolet 13 31.604 1.143 0.096 170.864
33 51 United States B.J. McLeod  Chevrolet 11 31.633 1.172 0.029 170.708
34 52 United States Garrett Smithley  Chevrolet 5 32.694 2.233 1.061 165.168
35 77 United States Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 4 32.819 2.358 0.125 164.539
36 66 United States Joey Gase  Toyota 9 33.179 2.718 0.360 162.754
37 27 United States Joe Nemechek  Chevrolet 5 33.457 2.996 0.278 161.401

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