Kyle Larson leads Blaney in first Cup practice at Kentucky

With just over a minute remaining in the 50-minute session, Larson posted an average lap speed of 185.867 mph, easily topping second-place Ryan Blaney (184.508 mph). Joey Logano ended up third (184.300 mph).

In four career starts at Kentucky Speedway, Larson has never led a lap and has one top-10 finish (second last season). In Larson’s first three starts at the track, he never finished better than 19th.

Kyle Busch ended up fourth and last year’s race winner, Martin Truex Jr., completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Erik Jones, Paul Menard and Daniel Suarez.

Jones, who earned his first Cup win last weekend at Daytona, completed the most laps (36).

Jesse Little, making his first start in the Cup series, ended up 36th fastest.

“Nice and secure, no weird feels yet,” Little said over his radio on his first lap on the track. “I’m struggling in (Turns) 3 and 4 getting back to the throttle ... only because I think it’s so light. I want to rush back to the throttle.”

Among the drivers who completed at least 10 consecutive laps, Clint Bowyer had the best average speed (181.444 mph). Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick were second and third, respectively, in that category.

Drivers Chase Elliott and Suarez both were forced to sit out the final 15 minutes of the practice session because their respective teams were late to pre-race inspection last weekend.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	10	29.053			185.867
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	19	29.244	0.191	0.191	184.653
3	22	Joey Logano	Ford	18	29.300	0.247	0.056	184.300
4	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	30	29.355	0.302	0.055	183.955
5	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	15	29.365	0.312	0.010	183.892
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	19	29.383	0.330	0.018	183.780
7	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	25	29.422	0.369	0.039	183.536
8	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	36	29.435	0.382	0.013	183.455
9	21	Paul Menard	Ford	18	29.444	0.391	0.009	183.399
10	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	30	29.450	0.397	0.006	183.362
11	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	25	29.461	0.408	0.011	183.293
12	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	28	29.476	0.423	0.015	183.200
13	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	24	29.496	0.443	0.020	183.076
14	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	19	29.523	0.470	0.027	182.908
15	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	26	29.578	0.525	0.055	182.568
16	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	25	29.613	0.560	0.035	182.352
17	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	20	29.633	0.580	0.020	182.229
18	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	21	29.649	0.596	0.016	182.131
19	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	14	29.681	0.628	0.032	181.935
20	6	Matt Kenseth	Ford	18	29.701	0.648	0.020	181.812
21	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	25	29.729	0.676	0.028	181.641
22	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	26	29.739	0.686	0.010	181.580
23	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	27	29.754	0.701	0.015	181.488
24	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	22	29.761	0.708	0.007	181.446
25	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	20	29.846	0.793	0.085	180.929
26	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	21	29.849	0.796	0.003	180.911
27	38	David Ragan	Ford	26	29.891	0.838	0.042	180.656
28	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	14	29.926	0.873	0.035	180.445
29	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	20	29.963	0.910	0.037	180.222
30	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	22	29.979	0.926	0.016	180.126
31	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	7	30.047	0.994	0.068	179.718
32	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	15	30.551	1.498	0.504	176.754
33	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	21	30.709	1.656	0.158	175.844
34	23	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	13	30.747	1.694	0.038	175.627
35	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	16	30.960	1.907	0.213	174.419
36	07	Jesse Little	Chevrolet	24	31.085	2.032	0.125	173.717
37	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	9	31.172	2.119	0.087	173.232
38	99	Garrett Smithley	Chevrolet	10	31.181	2.128	0.009	173.182
39	66	Timmy Hill	Toyota	13	31.366	2.313	0.185	172.161