Matt Kenseth leads opening Cup practice from Pocono

Kenseth’s lap of 176.077mph (51.114-seconds) came after 12 circuits. Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top 10 in the first session on Saturday.

Kyle Busch, who is still looking for his first win at the Tricky Triangle, showed he has the speed to accomplish the task when he set the early pace in first practice with a lap of 175.360mph (51.323-seconds) after his first three circuits. Pocono is one of just two tracks on the Monster Energy Cup Series where the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has yet to win, the other is Charlotte Motor Speedway

The Fords of Blaney and Kevin Harvick ran second and third followed by Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano, Newman, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Larson.

Newman moved up to second-quick after five laps with a speed of 174.277mph (51.642-seconds). Before the 20-minute mark, Clint Bowyer (173.960mph) jumped up to third after his first three-lap run but his Stewart-Haas teammate Harvick passed him with a lap of 174.034mph. In Kurt Busch’s second run, he moved from 11th to seventh (173.481mph).

At the 30-minute mark, Busch’s lap held up at the top. Blaney (174.527mph) moved back to second followed by Newman, Harvick, Bowyer, McMurray, Truex (173.718mph), Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Logano.

Thirty-three minutes into the session, Stephen Leicht spun out exiting Turn 1 before completing his first lap in the No. 83 BKRacing Toyota. His last start in a Cup car came at Phoenix Raceway in 2012.

Denny Hamlin, who had posted the 16th-fastest single-lap speed after three laps, developed a brake issue and had to return to the garage to change a warped rotor. Hamlin returned to the track with seven minutes left in the 55-minute session.

With 15 minutes remaining, Kyle Busch held on to the top spot followed by Blaney, Truex, Newman, Harvick, Bowyer, McMurray, Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Logano.

Kenseth (176.077mph) vaulted over Busch with 10 minutes left in practice. Larson followed with the second quick speed of 175.957mph. Busch held on to the third lap with Buescher, Suarez, Blaney, Truex, Newman and Harvick rounding out the top 10. In the last minutes, Jones posted the third fastest single-lap speed of 174.415mph.

Three drivers posted 10 Best Consecutive Averages. McMurray led the category with a speed of 172.280mph, followed by Newman (171.884mph) and Bowyer (171.418mph).

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	12	51.114			176.077
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	12	51.149	0.035	0.035	175.957
3	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	14	51.307	0.193	0.158	175.415
4	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	13	51.323	0.209	0.016	175.360
5	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	14	51.495	0.381	0.172	174.774
6	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	9	51.547	0.433	0.052	174.598
7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	13	51.554	0.440	0.007	174.574
8	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	13	51.568	0.454	0.014	174.527
9	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	21	51.642	0.528	0.074	174.277
10	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	14	51.700	0.586	0.058	174.081
11	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	16	51.714	0.600	0.014	174.034
12	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	13	51.727	0.613	0.013	173.990
13	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	19	51.736	0.622	0.009	173.960
14	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	18	51.746	0.632	0.010	173.926
15	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	10	51.834	0.720	0.088	173.631
16	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	22	51.845	0.731	0.011	173.594
17	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	16	51.879	0.765	0.034	173.481
18	22	Joey Logano	Ford	13	51.894	0.780	0.015	173.430
19	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	11	51.952	0.838	0.058	173.237
20	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	27	52.017	0.903	0.065	173.020
21	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	17	52.047	0.933	0.030	172.921
22	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	18	52.050	0.936	0.003	172.911
23	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	11	52.313	1.199	0.263	172.041
24	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	19	52.424	1.310	0.111	171.677
25	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	14	52.469	1.355	0.045	171.530
26	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	11	52.508	1.394	0.039	171.402
27	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	9	52.716	1.602	0.208	170.726
28	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	10	52.844	1.730	0.128	170.313
29	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	15	52.884	1.770	0.040	170.184
30	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	12	53.038	1.924	0.154	169.690
31	38	David Ragan	Ford	17	53.145	2.031	0.107	169.348
32	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	7	53.249	2.135	0.104	169.017
33	23	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	10	53.708	2.594	0.459	167.573
34	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	8	54.136	3.022	0.428	166.248
35	15	Gray Gaulding	Chevrolet	8	54.370	3.256	0.234	165.532
36	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	12	54.495	3.381	0.125	165.153
37	83	Stephen Leicht	Toyota	4	55.237	4.123	0.742	162.934
38	55	Derrike Cope	Toyota	4	55.241	4.127	0.004	162.922