Practice report
NASCAR Cup Richmond II
Kenseth and Truex run identical speeds, top first Richmond practice
Matt Kenseth led first practice at Richmond Raceway on Friday morning.
Lee Spencer
Edited: Sep 8, 2017, 4:39 PM
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After five minutes, Kenseth topped the speed chart with a single-lap of 120.897mph which held up through the 55-minute session. Kenseth is currently eighth in the Monster Energy Cup standings but still looking for his first victory in 2017.
“I feel like this is one of our better tracks,” Kenseth said. “We qualified well in the spring, led a lot early, then got off on our setup a little bit at the end of the race. Really I’m still thinking about trying to get that win.”
Martin Truex Jr. was second quick followed by Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Kenseth completed nine laps during the first five minutes of the first practice session. Truex (120.897mph) was second and matched Kenseth’s speed — followed by Keselowski (120.380mph), Earnhardt (120.032mph), Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Bowyer and Danica Patrick. Thirty-one drivers completed initial laps.
Kenseth and Truex held the top two positions after 15 minutes with Kyle Busch (120.423mph) moving up to third followed by Kyle Larson (120.401mph), Keselowski, Earnhardt, Denny Hamlin (120.011mph) Jones, Kevin Harvick and Stenhouse.
Halfway through the session, the top 10 drivers had not changed on the speed chart. Logano was 11th followed by Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Patrick, Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney.
Hamlin led the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average category with a speed of 118.948mph followed by Keselowski (118.808mph), Bowyer (118.749mph), Newman (118.636mph), Harvick (118.522mph), Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Stenhouse, Patrick and Jones.
The top 10 drivers’ speed held throughout the session. Michael McDowell’s 58 laps were the most completed.
Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 20 
Matt Kenseth
Toyota 51 22.333 120.897 2 78 Martin Truex Jr.
Toyota 29 22.333 0.000 0.000 120.897 3 18 Kyle Busch
Toyota 36 22.421 0.088 0.088 120.423 4 42 Kyle Larson
Chevrolet 25 22.425 0.092 0.004 120.401 5 2 Brad Keselowski
Ford 39 22.429 0.096 0.004 120.380 6 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Chevrolet 47 22.494 0.161 0.065 120.032 7 11 Denny Hamlin
Toyota 51 22.498 0.165 0.004 120.011 8 77 Erik Jones
Toyota 46 22.512 0.179 0.014 119.936 9 4 Kevin Harvick
Ford 23 22.513 0.180 0.001 119.931 10 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ford 41 22.533 0.200 0.020 119.824 11 22 Joey Logano
Ford 37 22.550 0.217 0.017 119.734 12 31 Ryan Newman
Chevrolet 43 22.557 0.224 0.007 119.697 13 14 Clint Bowyer
Ford 37 22.571 0.238 0.014 119.623 14 41 Kurt Busch
Ford 39 22.590 0.257 0.019 119.522 15 1 Jamie McMurray
Chevrolet 39 22.595 0.262 0.005 119.495 16 10 Danica Patrick
Ford 21 22.599 0.266 0.004 119.474 17 19 
Daniel Suarez
Toyota 49 22.620 0.287 0.021 119.363 18 34 Landon Cassill
Ford 49 22.636 0.303 0.016 119.279 19 3 Austin Dillon
Chevrolet 43 22.652 0.319 0.016 119.195 20 21 Ryan Blaney
Ford 38 22.652 0.319 0.000 119.195 21 38 David Ragan
Ford 32 22.668 0.335 0.016 119.111 22 24 Chase Elliott
Chevrolet 44 22.678 0.345 0.010 119.058 23 5 Kasey Kahne
Chevrolet 29 22.686 0.353 0.008 119.016 24 48 Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet 47 22.709 0.376 0.023 118.896 25 6 Trevor Bayne
Ford 38 22.789 0.456 0.080 118.478 26 37 Chris Buescher
Chevrolet 29 22.796 0.463 0.007 118.442 27 43 Aric Almirola
Ford 40 22.809 0.476 0.013 118.374 28 13 Ty Dillon
Chevrolet 46 22.888 0.555 0.079 117.966 29 32 Matt DiBenedetto
Ford 41 22.939 0.606 0.051 117.703 30 47 A.J. Allmendinger
Chevrolet 29 22.942 0.609 0.003 117.688 31 27 Paul Menard
Chevrolet 20 22.957 0.624 0.015 117.611 32 83 Corey Lajoie
Toyota 22 23.025 0.692 0.068 117.264 33 55 Reed Sorenson
Chevrolet 21 23.091 0.758 0.066 116.929 34 72 Cole Whitt
Chevrolet 25 23.116 0.783 0.025 116.802 35 95 Michael McDowell
Chevrolet 58 23.157 0.824 0.041 116.595 36 23 Gray Gaulding
Toyota 27 23.401 1.068 0.244 115.380 37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt
Chevrolet 39 23.503 1.170 0.102 114.879 38 51 Cody Ware
Chevrolet 11 23.803 1.470 0.300 113.431 39 15 Derrike Cope
Toyota 24 23.918 1.585 0.115 112.886
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