Matt Kenseth fastest in Sprint Cup final practice

Kenseth, who completed 37 laps, posted a speed of 189.460 mph (28.502-sec.). After leading Saturday’s first practice, Carl Edwards was second quick with a lap of 188.851 mph. 

“It felt a little bit less tight on exit,” said Kurt Busch after he ran his 47th and final lap. His top lap of 188.706 mph during the exercise was fast enough for third. 

The Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets of Paul Menard (188.679 mph) and Ryan Newman (188.547 mph) rounded out the top-five in single lap runs followed by the Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson (188.344 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (188.304 mph). 

Casey Mears backed up his third-quick speed with the eighth fastest lap in final practice, followed by the Toyotas of Denny Hamlin (188.199 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (188.180 mph).

Austin Dillon, who starts fifth in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400, posted the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average (186.424 mph). He was also 11th in single lap runs after running second in the first session. 

“It was a solid practice for the Dow Chevy,” Dillon said. “I think we did a good job making solid adjustments. I think our cars handled through the bumps better. I think we were fast through the long runs and that will give us a good shot for tomorrow.

“We also worked on some of the fundamentals like pit road speed, getting on and off of pit road — which was a struggle at Atlanta. We’re just looking at cleaning everything up and I think that’s going to give us a good chance on Sunday.” 

Johnson (186.241 mph) posted the second quick in Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average followed by Kurt Busch (185.801 mph), Kenseth (185.673 mph) and AJ Allmendinger (185.437 mph).