Practice report
NASCAR Cup Richmond
Kyle Larson tops final Cup practice at Richmond
Kyle Larson may not think Richmond (Va.) Raceway is one of his better tracks but his performance of late speaks volumes.
Jim Utter
Edited: Apr 20, 2018, 5:43 PM
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Larson, who earned his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory at the track last fall, was fastest in Friday’s final practice session prior to Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400.
Larson posted an average lap speed of 120.315 mph with just over 10 minutes left in this 50-minute session. He was also second-fastest in Friday’s first session.
Darrell Wallace Jr. was second-fastest (119.952 mph) and Jamie McMurray came in third (119.904 mph). Clint Bowyer was fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top-five.
“Typically this hasn’t been a good race track for me, but for whatever reason, the last time we were here we were about a top 3 car all race long,” Larson said Friday. “(Martin) Truex was really fast. But, I was a little bit lucky there at the end with a caution to beat him off pit road and get the win.
“I think that adds a little bit of confidence coming back here; but at the same time, I’ve struggled here in the past. I don’t know if I’ll be as good as I was last time, but I hope so.”
Rounding out the Top 10 in practice were Daniel Hemric, who is making his series debut this weekend; Alex Bowman; Denny Hamlin; Austin Dillon and A.J. Allmendinger.
Hamlin, typically one of the top performers at Richmond, struggled greatly in the first practice and made numerous changes to his No. 11 Toyota before getting on the track in the second practice.
“Whatever it is, it’s a major, major issue that’s not showing up in simulation. We’re trying to put parts and pieces in from our other teammates,” Hamlin said before making his first laps in the second practice.
“I’m not sure we can get our car fix today so it may be a shot in the dark for tomorrow.”
Hamlin ended up completing 39 laps in the session and he was much more pleased with the result, but still believed the team had more work to do.
There are no other practices scheduled before Saturday night’s race, just a qualifying session later Friday afternoon.
Larson was also fastest among the drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps in the final session, with an average lap speed of 119.110 mph. Hamlin was second fastest among that group and Martin Truex Jr. was third.
Read Also:
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Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 42 
Kyle Larson Chevrolet 54 22.441 120.315 2 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 34 22.509 0.068 0.068 119.952 3 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 11 22.518 0.077 0.009 119.904 4 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 29 22.518 0.077 0.000 119.904 5 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 31 22.520 0.079 0.002 119.893 6 8 Daniel Hemric 24 22.527 0.086 0.007 119.856 7 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 11 22.554 0.113 0.027 119.713 8 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 39 22.559 0.118 0.005 119.686 9 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 39 22.567 0.126 0.008 119.644 10 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 29 22.575 0.134 0.008 119.601 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 16 22.582 0.141 0.007 119.564 12 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 28 22.582 0.141 0.000 119.564 13 95 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 41 22.591 0.150 0.009 119.517 14 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 58 22.596 0.155 0.005 119.490 15 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 65 22.602 0.161 0.006 119.458 16 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 30 22.605 0.164 0.003 119.443 17 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 36 22.620 0.179 0.015 119.363 18 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 48 22.634 0.193 0.014 119.290 19 20 Erik Jones Toyota 36 22.648 0.207 0.014 119.216 20 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 58 22.649 0.208 0.001 119.211 21 22 Joey Logano Ford 58 22.666 0.225 0.017 119.121 22 24 William Byron Chevrolet 46 22.670 0.229 0.004 119.100 23 34 Michael McDowell Ford 23 22.683 0.242 0.013 119.032 24 21 Paul Menard Ford 59 22.687 0.246 0.004 119.011 25 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 69 22.689 0.248 0.002 119.000 26 10 Aric Almirola Ford 30 22.689 0.248 0.000 119.000 27 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 59 22.716 0.275 0.027 118.859 28 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 29 22.716 0.275 0.000 118.859 29 41 Kurt Busch Ford 56 22.725 0.284 0.009 118.812 30 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 41 22.780 0.339 0.055 118.525 31 38 David Ragan Ford 33 22.835 0.394 0.055 118.240 32 19 
Daniel Suarez Toyota 35 22.871 0.430 0.036 118.053 33 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 30 22.914 0.473 0.043 117.832 34 23 Gray Gaulding Toyota 25 23.029 0.588 0.115 117.243 35 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 24 23.083 0.642 0.054 116.969 36 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 26 23.348 0.907 0.265 115.642 37 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 34 23.437 0.996 0.089 115.202 38 51 Harrison Rhodes Chevrolet 35 23.471 1.030 0.034 115.036
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