Practice report
NASCAR Cup Watkins Glen
Brad Keselowski tops final Cup practice at Watkins Glen
Brad Keselowski led Happy Hour at Watkins Glen on Saturday.
Lee Spencer
Edited: Aug 5, 2017, 6:12 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Keselowski posted a lap of 125.880mph (70.067-seconds) after four runs of 16 total laps.
Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 single-lap speeds.
After 25 cars posted first laps, Jamie McMurray held the top speed of 125.233mph. Keselowski was second (125.055mph) followed by Kurt Busch (124.511mph), Denny Hamlin (124.185mph) and Chase Elliott (124.035mph). AJ Allmendinger, Kahne, Kenseth, Harvick and Bowyer rounded out the top 10.
Just after five minutes, Truex popped up to third (124.641mph). Moments later, Boris Said destroyed the nose on the No. 33 Chevy in the bus stop and forced the red flag. Maintenance trucks cleared the grass and dirt from the circuit in the inner loop. Before cars could return to the track, a light sprinkle blew over the track.
The Nos. 13, 31, 48 and 72 were released from a 15-minute practice hold for failing qualifying/pre-race practice inspection twice at Pocono.
One minute later, the shower passed through and 25 cars returned to the track. McMurray was still fastest in single-lap speed. Just before the 22-minute mark, Keselowksi moved to the top (125.880mph) on his third lap. Kurt Busch took over P2 (125.862mph). McMurray, Truex, Bowyer, Hamlin,
“It felt slower, like I was tighter on each apex,” Kurt Busch said. His crew chief Tony Gibson replied, “That was a .70-flat. Your best lap.”
NASCAR released Kyle Larson from time out at the 30-minute mark. Larson executed a burn out on pit road following lug nut inspection at Pocono. Danica Patrick, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher and Erik Jones were also released from 30-minute holds due to failing inspection three times at Pocono.
Keselowski remained atop the leader board followed by Kurt Busch, McMurray, Truex, Stenhouse (124.464mph), Bowyer, Hamlin, Harvick, Elliott and Allmendinger. Six minutes later, Kyle Busch jumped up to fifth with a lap of 124.504mph. At the 40-minute mark, Busch moved to fourth on his eight lap — 124.906mph.
Ryan Blaney climbed up to seventh with just over 10 minutes remaining. Blaney’s eighth lap was 124.786mph. Daniel Suarez was bumped to 11th followed by Jones, Elliott, Allmendinger, Kahne, Kenseth, Logano, Buescher, Larson and Ty Dillon.
With seven minutes to go, Hamlin (125.281mph) bounced up to third in qualifying trim followed by Larson (125.268mph), McMurray, McDowell, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Blaney.
Read Also:
- Kyle Busch leads action-packed first practice at Watkins Glen
Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 2 
Brad Keselowski
Ford 16 70.067 125.880 2 41 Kurt Busch
Ford 12 70.077 0.010 0.010 125.862 3 78 Martin Truex Jr.
Toyota 13 70.224 0.157 0.147 125.598 4 14 Clint Bowyer
Ford 12 70.342 0.275 0.118 125.387 5 11 Denny Hamlin
Toyota 15 70.402 0.335 0.060 125.281 6 42 Kyle Larson
Chevrolet 7 70.409 0.342 0.007 125.268 7 1 Jamie McMurray
Chevrolet 16 70.429 0.362 0.020 125.233 8 24 Chase Elliott
Chevrolet 14 70.478 0.411 0.049 125.145 9 95 Michael McDowell
Chevrolet 12 70.515 0.448 0.037 125.080 10 18 Kyle Busch
Toyota 11 70.613 0.546 0.098 124.906 11 4 Kevin Harvick
Ford 9 70.620 0.553 0.007 124.894 12 21 Ryan Blaney
Ford 10 70.681 0.614 0.061 124.786 13 27 Paul Menard
Chevrolet 10 70.863 0.796 0.182 124.466 14 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ford 11 70.864 0.797 0.001 124.464 15 22 Joey Logano
Ford 15 70.873 0.806 0.009 124.448 16 19 
Daniel Suarez
Toyota 14 71.049 0.982 0.176 124.140 17 77 Erik Jones
Toyota 10 71.087 1.020 0.038 124.073 18 47 A.J. Allmendinger
Chevrolet 11 71.112 1.045 0.025 124.030 19 5 Kasey Kahne
Chevrolet 17 71.113 1.046 0.001 124.028 20 20 Matt Kenseth
Toyota 14 71.162 1.095 0.049 123.943 21 37 Chris Buescher
Chevrolet 3 71.227 1.160 0.065 123.829 22 13 Ty Dillon
Chevrolet 11 71.334 1.267 0.107 123.644 23 10 Danica Patrick
Ford 8 71.392 1.325 0.058 123.543 24 6 Trevor Bayne
Ford 12 71.408 1.341 0.016 123.516 25 43 Aric Almirola
Ford 12 71.513 1.446 0.105 123.334 26 48 Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet 14 71.638 1.571 0.125 123.119 27 31 Ryan Newman
Chevrolet 8 71.684 1.617 0.046 123.040 28 3 Austin Dillon
Chevrolet 13 71.783 1.716 0.099 122.870 29 72 Cole Whitt
Chevrolet 9 71.835 1.768 0.052 122.781 30 38 David Ragan
Ford 12 72.278 2.211 0.443 122.029 31 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Chevrolet 9 72.316 2.249 0.038 121.965 32 34 Landon Cassill
Ford 9 72.433 2.366 0.117 121.768 33 32 Matt DiBenedetto
Ford 12 72.531 2.464 0.098 121.603 34 15 
Gary Klutt
Chevrolet 12 73.154 3.087 0.623 120.568 35 83 Brett Moffitt
Toyota 10 73.213 3.146 0.059 120.470 36 33 Boris Said
Chevrolet 2 73.660 3.593 0.447 119.739
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Johnson expects stage racing to "ramp up" the aggression at the Glen
Next article Dale Jr. hopes to "have something to smile about" by season's end
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lee Spencer
Harvick reflects on career after Atlanta win, honors Dale Earnhardt
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Atlanta
Harvick reflects on career after Atlanta win, honors Dale Earnhardt
Chase Elliott: "We have a lot of work to do" after Atlanta showing
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Atlanta
Chase Elliott: "We have a lot of work to do" after Atlanta showing
Harvick leads veteran charge at Atlanta Motor Speedway
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Atlanta
Harvick leads veteran charge at Atlanta Motor Speedway
More from
Brad Keselowski
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
Ryan Preece on RFK nearly lapping the field: "You'll never see that again"
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
Ryan Preece on RFK nearly lapping the field: "You'll never see that again"
What now for Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing with impending split?
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Las Vegas II
What now for Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing with impending split?
More from
Team Penske
Joey Logano eliminated from NASCAR title fight: “They were trying to give it to us”
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
11 h
Joey Logano eliminated from NASCAR title fight: “They were trying to give it to us”
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
IndyCar
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
Latest news
Lewis Hamilton slams Charles Leclerc for "do or die" attitude after Mexico GP clash
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
26 min
Lewis Hamilton slams Charles Leclerc for "do or die" attitude after Mexico GP clash
Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett blast Carson Hocevar: "That's not racing"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
56 min
Jeff Burton and Dale Jarrett blast Carson Hocevar: "That's not racing"
Kimi Antonelli reveals why he won’t take number 1 for the 2027 F1 season
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Kimi Antonelli reveals why he won’t take number 1 for the 2027 F1 season
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe