Kyle Busch slaps wall, still fastest in eventful final practice
Happy Hour was far from tame with an accident on pit road, a collision (with a person) in the garage, and the fastest car on track needing repairs after contact with the wall.
Photo by: Action Sports Photography
After nearly losing the rear of the car at the conclusion of the first practice, Kyle Busch got a piece of the wall 15 minutes into the second session. He was following Brad Keselowski out of Tunnel Turn when the contact occurred.
He was still fastest.
Busch led his older brother Kurt with a time of 51.358 seconds (175.240mph). "Nice job guys, that was my bad," Busch said of the damage. "I apologize. Hate it you had to work more and have to work tonight. Fast car, though, appreciate it. Let's keep it going though."
"10-4, man," replied crew chief Adam Stevens. "I wouldn't have it any other way. That's what makes it fun."
Hard crash for Burton
At the start of Happy Hour, a scary accident took place. BK Racing rookie Jeb Burton lost control out of the final corner, spinning sideways and onto pit road, making heavy left front contact with the concrete pit wall. He was okay. Burton claimed he was trying to drive out of the spin, which contributed to the severity of the impact.
Johnson hits someone in garage, who is okay
Jimmie Johnson also got a piece of the wall during practice, but that wasn't his biggest incident of the morning... He struck someone in the garage, who was able to get up uninjured. Full story on that HERE.
Edwards and Earnhardt making gains on their setups
Carl Edwards led the earlier practice and was third this time around while the No. 19 team worked hard on the balance of the car. Edwards said after a change that it helped his Turn 3; "Exit of 1 is a little too free, 2 is fine, 3 is okay" He added that the track is changing and making it difficult to gage if the changes are really making a difference.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and company felt like they made gains on their car, posting the tenth quickest time after sitting down in 23rd for the 9am practice session "The tunnel was good there, it turned in way better - got the tunnel back," said Earnhardt. "I wasn't arcing it in there like that before, now I can arc it in there good, it fixed the center real nice. ..The problem is under braking into 1 I just get loose. I get loose under braking."
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments