Denny Hamlin leads opening Cup practice at Indianapolis
Denny Hamlin picked up at Indy where he left off at New Hampshire — on top of the pylon.
Photo by: Russell LaBounty / NKP / Motorsport Images
Hamlin posted the top single-lap speed of 187.414mph during his third of four race runs at the Brickyard during first practice on Saturday.
Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10 in the 55-minute session.
Defending Brickyard 400 winner Kyle Busch was the first car on the track followed by 2003 Indy victor Harvick. But it was Kenseth setting the early pace with a lap of 185.200mph.
After the first 10 minutes of the session, Kenseth was atop the speed chart after three laps. Kahne, Larson, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt Jr., Blaney and Keselowski, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10 single-lap speeds.
Martin Truex Jr. bumped Kenseth on his second lap with a speed of 185.559mph. Harvick also broke into the top 10 (ninth) with a speed of 184.188mph).
NASCAR released Jimmie Johnson from his 15-minute practice hold. The penalty stemmed from being late to pre-race inspection at New Hampshire. Corey LaJoie was also released. The No. 23 was penalized for the same infraction. The No. 48 was 13th-quick after its first three-lap run.
Hamlin vaulted over Truex on his second run with a lap of 186.959mph just before the 30-minute mark. Kenseth remained third followed Kahne, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt, Blaney, Harvick and Keselowski. Earnhardt’s 12 laps were the most completed at that point.
Newman dropped to 11th followed by Kurt Busch, Erik Jones and 2010 Brickyard winner Jamie McMurray.
Hamlin improved his single-lap speed to 187.414mph on his third run with less than 10 minutes remaining in the session.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 7 | 48.022 | 187.414 | ||
2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 15 | 48.502 | 0.480 | 0.480 | 185.559 |
3 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 19 | 48.596 | 0.574 | 0.094 | 185.200 |
4 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 23 | 48.609 | 0.587 | 0.013 | 185.151 |
5 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 18 | 48.648 | 0.626 | 0.039 | 185.002 |
6 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 20 | 48.720 | 0.698 | 0.072 | 184.729 |
7 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 22 | 48.788 | 0.766 | 0.068 | 184.472 |
8 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 18 | 48.793 | 0.771 | 0.005 | 184.453 |
9 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 15 | 48.863 | 0.841 | 0.070 | 184.188 |
10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 16 | 48.863 | 0.841 | 0.000 | 184.188 |
11 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 18 | 48.924 | 0.902 | 0.061 | 183.959 |
12 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 14 | 48.990 | 0.968 | 0.066 | 183.711 |
13 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 14 | 49.032 | 1.010 | 0.042 | 183.554 |
14 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 21 | 49.037 | 1.015 | 0.005 | 183.535 |
15 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 21 | 49.090 | 1.068 | 0.053 | 183.337 |
16 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 21 | 49.110 | 1.088 | 0.020 | 183.262 |
17 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 23 | 49.118 | 1.096 | 0.008 | 183.232 |
18 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 13 | 49.183 | 1.161 | 0.065 | 182.990 |
19 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 10 | 49.377 | 1.355 | 0.194 | 182.271 |
20 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 13 | 49.435 | 1.413 | 0.058 | 182.057 |
21 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 7 | 49.482 | 1.460 | 0.047 | 181.884 |
22 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 18 | 49.497 | 1.475 | 0.015 | 181.829 |
23 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 13 | 49.523 | 1.501 | 0.026 | 181.734 |
24 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 10 | 49.586 | 1.564 | 0.063 | 181.503 |
25 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 8 | 49.637 | 1.615 | 0.051 | 181.316 |
26 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 10 | 49.691 | 1.669 | 0.054 | 181.119 |
27 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 14 | 49.782 | 1.760 | 0.091 | 180.788 |
28 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 16 | 49.790 | 1.768 | 0.008 | 180.759 |
29 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 16 | 49.981 | 1.959 | 0.191 | 180.068 |
30 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 18 | 50.001 | 1.979 | 0.020 | 179.996 |
31 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 14 | 50.266 | 2.244 | 0.265 | 179.047 |
32 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 9 | 50.316 | 2.294 | 0.050 | 178.870 |
33 | 7 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 11 | 50.581 | 2.559 | 0.265 | 177.932 |
34 | 23 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 10 | 51.164 | 3.142 | 0.583 | 175.905 |
35 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 7 | 51.207 | 3.185 | 0.043 | 175.757 |
36 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 2 | 52.480 | 4.458 | 1.273 | 171.494 |
37 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 3 | 52.678 | 4.656 | 0.198 | 170.849 |
38 | 55 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 6 | 52.971 | 4.949 | 0.293 | 169.904 |
39 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 4 | 53.423 | 5.401 | 0.452 | 168.467 |
40 | 15 | Joey Gase | Chevrolet | 10 | 53.511 | 5.489 | 0.088 | 168.190 |
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