Kyle Larson tops final Cup practice at Richmond

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.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
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