Practice report
NASCAR Cup Pocono
Larson tops first Pocono practice as Dale Jr. encounters engine issues
Kyle Larson topped first practice at Pocono Raceway.
Lee Spencer
Edited: Jun 9, 2017, 4:42 PM
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Larson established a fast lap of 177.312 on his 11th — and final lap in the session.
Kyle Busch was second followed by Matt Kenseth and the Fords of Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney. Chevy drivers Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10 speeds.
Keselowski posted the quick lap early — 173.789mph. In the first 10 minutes, Larson was second 173.772mph followed by Kenseth (173.174mph), Ryan Newman (173.047mph), Denny Hamlin (173.007mph), Harvick (172.572mph), Clint Bowyer (172.483mph), McMurray (172.232mph), Kurt Busch (172.199mph) and AJ Allmendinger 9172.150mph).
Thirty drivers had posted times when NASCAR called a caution 13 minutes into the session for debris in Turn 1.
Just before the 25-minute mark, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had engine issues. He had completed eight laps and was 19th on the speed chart with a lap of 171.344mph. Earnhardt over-revving the engine resulted in the team needing to replace the engine. He will start from the rear on Sunday.
Thirty minutes into the 85-minute session, Keselowski continued to lead the top spot followed by Larson, Harvick (173.541mph), Kyle Busch (173.491mph), Ryan Blaney (173.404mph), Newman (173.397mph), Kenseth, Hamlin, McMurray and Bowyer.
Kyle Busch topped the speed chart 38-minutes into practice with a lap of 175.682mph on his third lap. Last weekend’s winner Jimmie Johnson moved into second with a lap of 174.338mph.
At the 50-minute mark, Larson popped up to the top of the board with a Q-run of 175.926mph.
“I probably gave up half a second in Turn 3,” Larson told the crew after posting the lap.
Kyle Busch remained second, Kenseth moved up to third (175.305mph) with McMurray (175.159mph) and Johnson rounding out the top-five speeds.
With 15 minutes remaining, Joey Logano jumped up to P1 with a speed of 176.564mph on his 13th lap. Larson, Kyle Busch, Kenseth and McMurray rounded out the top-five laps.
Kyle Busch took over the top spot with a lap of 177.235mph with just over 10 minutes left in practice. Harvick also leapt over Logano and Larson with a lap of 176.588mph. Kenseth (176.939mph) moved up to second with nine minutes to go.
But with seven minutes left in practice, Larson regained the top spot with a lap of 177.312mph.
Bubba Wallace made his first laps in a Cup car at Pocono Raceway on Friday. Wallace completed 21 laps. His team remarked after practice that his “preparation paid off.”
“I’m jacked up right now,” Wallace said. “Our Smithfield Fusion is ok, a little tight…It didn’t feel too much different. I’m just having fun.”
Trevor Bayne’s 22 laps were the most completed in the session.
Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 42 
Kyle Larson Chevrolet 11 50.758 177.312 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 7 50.780 0.022 0.022 177.235 3 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 13 50.865 0.107 0.085 176.939 4 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 15 50.966 0.208 0.101 176.588 5 22 Joey Logano Ford 15 50.973 0.215 0.007 176.564 6 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 15 51.087 0.329 0.114 176.170 7 21 Ryan Blaney Ford 14 51.249 0.491 0.162 175.613 8 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 9 51.317 0.559 0.068 175.380 9 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 13 51.324 0.566 0.007 175.357 10 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 7 51.349 0.591 0.025 175.271 11 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 16 51.397 0.639 0.048 175.107 12 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 7 51.420 0.662 0.023 175.029 13 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 14 51.476 0.718 0.056 174.839 14 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 13 51.487 0.729 0.011 174.801 15 41 Kurt Busch Ford 9 51.496 0.738 0.009 174.771 16 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 12 51.554 0.796 0.058 174.574 17 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 13 51.600 0.842 0.046 174.419 18 10 Danica Patrick Ford 14 51.681 0.923 0.081 174.145 19 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Ford 21 51.684 0.926 0.003 174.135 20 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 11 51.686 0.928 0.002 174.128 21 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 15 51.703 0.945 0.017 174.071 22 77 Erik Jones Toyota 13 51.753 0.995 0.050 173.903 23 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 13 51.848 1.090 0.095 173.584 24 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 18 51.927 1.169 0.079 173.320 25 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 13 51.937 1.179 0.010 173.287 26 19 
Daniel Suarez Toyota 16 52.025 1.267 0.088 172.994 27 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 22 52.119 1.361 0.094 172.682 28 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 11 52.349 1.591 0.230 171.923 29 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 8 52.526 1.768 0.177 171.344 30 38 David Ragan Ford 8 52.540 1.782 0.014 171.298 31 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 7 52.930 2.172 0.390 170.036 32 34 Landon Cassill Ford 16 52.988 2.230 0.058 169.850 33 83 Corey Lajoie Toyota 10 53.007 2.249 0.019 169.789 34 23 Gray Gaulding Toyota 9 53.084 2.326 0.077 169.543 35 15 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 9 53.860 3.102 0.776 167.100 36 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 11 53.905 3.147 0.045 166.960 37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 19 54.652 3.894 0.747 164.678 38 51 Cody Ware Chevrolet 14 54.938 4.180 0.286 163.821 39 55 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 13 56.278 5.520 1.340 159.920
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