Practice report
NASCAR Cup Richmond II
Kyle Larson leads final Cup practice at Richmond
Kyle Larson found his happy place in Happy Hour at Richmond Raceway on Friday.
Lee Spencer
Edited: Sep 8, 2017, 7:56 PM
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In the final 10 minutes of the 85-minute session, the No. 42 Target Chevy climbed to the top of the speed chart with a lap of 120.235mph after 76 laps.
"It's kind of hard to believe we're back at Richmond with the regular season set to wrap up,” said Larson who is third in the standings and finished second in this race last year. “Up to now it's been a pretty solid year for our team. We've accomplished some of our goals, but still have a few more to work towards over the coming weeks.
“Unfortunately, the regular season title is out of contention this weekend, but we'll work hard to have a strong run at Richmond with the Target Chevy and try to move back into second in the standings and get as many playoffs points as we can. Our cars have definitely been improving at Richmond, so looking forward to a good race."
Joey Logano was second in final practice followed by Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin.
Keselowski’s 83 laps were the most completed in the session.
Martin Truex Jr. posted a single-lap speed of 118.224mph after 12 laps in the first five minutes of the session. Suarez was second (118.100mph) followed by Chase Elliott (117.971mph), Brad Keselowski (117.894mph), Kyle Busch (117.837mph), Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Twenty-six cars posted speeds.
The top 10 speeds didn’t change after the first 15 minutes. But Kevin Harvick and Austin Dillon were released from their practice holds after failing pre-race inspection at Darlington. Harvick moved up to 15th quick (116.848mph). Dillon was 21st (116.505mpj) Jamie McMurray, who failed pre-qualifying inspection twice, arrive at the time out lane later. He joined practice about five minutes later and posted the 23rd fastest single lap — 116.274mph.
Thirty minutes into the session, Truex still led the top 10 drivers. Clint Bowyer, who was released from his practice hold jumped up to 11th on the speed chart with a lap of 117.218mph. The No. 14 team failed pre-qualifying inspection three times at Darlington. Matt Kenseth was also released for the same infraction. Kenseth ran 30th-quick with his first run of 116.149mph.
Chris Buescher was 12th fastest after the first half-hour followed by Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick. Kenseth moved up to 15th-quick — 116.868mph after seven laps.
Kyle Larson bumped Stenhouse out of the top 10 with a speed of 117.254mph after 45 laps following the first 45 minutes.
After the first hour, Larson was the only change among the top-10 drivers. Keselowski’s 77 laps were the most completed.
At the one hour, five minute mark, NASCAR released Erik Jones and Landon Cassill. Jones failed qualifying inspection three times at Darlington. Cassill failed pre-race inspection four times. Cassill was 17th-quick after three laps.
Seven minutes later, Bowyer vaulted up to second with a mock qualifying run of 118.146mph. At the 70-minute mark, Jones jumped up to 10th with a lap of 117.852mph but was knocked out of the top 10 when Kurt Busch topped the chart with a mock qualifying run of 119.147mph. His Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Danica Patrick posted the fifth-fastest lap of 118.520mph.
With 10 minutes remaining, Kurt Busch held the top spot followed by Chase Elliott (119.016mph), McMurray (118.890mph), Kyle Busch (118.718mph), Stenhouse (118.671mph), Patrick, Cassill (118.416mph) and Blaney (118.333mph)
Larson cruised up to P1 with a speed of 120.235mph with eight minutes left in final practice. Logano ran second (120.208mph), Suarez third (119.925mph), Kenseth (119.564mph) and Keselowski fifth (119.195mph). Kurt Busch, Elliott, McMurray, Kyle Busch and Stenhouse rounded out the top 10. Johnson, Patrick, Bowyer, Cassill and Blaney completed the top 15.
Truex rolled up to fourth (119.697mph) with less than three minutes on the clock. Hamlin’s lap of 118.922mph held up for ninth with Trevor Bayne in 10th (118.906mph).
Read Also:
- Kenseth and Truex run identical speeds, top first Richmond practice
Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 42 
Kyle Larson Chevrolet 76 22.456 120.235 2 22 Joey Logano Ford 66 22.461 0.005 0.005 120.208 3 19 
Daniel Suarez Toyota 66 22.514 0.058 0.053 119.925 4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 54 22.557 0.101 0.043 119.697 5 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 31 22.582 0.126 0.025 119.564 6 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 62 22.627 0.171 0.045 119.326 7 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 83 22.652 0.196 0.025 119.195 8 41 Kurt Busch Ford 63 22.661 0.205 0.009 119.147 9 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 74 22.686 0.230 0.025 119.016 10 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 41 22.704 0.248 0.018 118.922 11 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 63 22.707 0.251 0.003 118.906 12 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 60 22.708 0.252 0.001 118.901 13 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 41 22.710 0.254 0.002 118.890 14 38 David Ragan Ford 51 22.741 0.285 0.031 118.728 15 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 71 22.743 0.287 0.002 118.718 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 51 22.753 0.297 0.010 118.666 17 10 Danica Patrick Ford 70 22.781 0.325 0.028 118.520 18 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 41 22.785 0.329 0.004 118.499 19 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 31 22.795 0.339 0.010 118.447 20 34 Landon Cassill Ford 11 22.801 0.345 0.006 118.416 21 21 Ryan Blaney Ford 57 22.817 0.361 0.016 118.333 22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 60 22.817 0.361 0.000 118.333 23 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 48 22.826 0.370 0.009 118.286 24 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 59 22.851 0.395 0.025 118.157 25 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 34 22.855 0.399 0.004 118.136 26 77 Erik Jones Toyota 5 22.886 0.430 0.031 117.976 27 83 Corey Lajoie Toyota 35 22.910 0.454 0.024 117.852 28 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 54 22.923 0.467 0.013 117.786 29 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 64 22.941 0.485 0.018 117.693 30 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 50 22.993 0.537 0.052 117.427 31 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 78 23.043 0.587 0.050 117.172 32 43 Aric Almirola Ford 49 23.049 0.593 0.006 117.142 33 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 24 23.186 0.730 0.137 116.450 34 23 Gray Gaulding Toyota 49 23.219 0.763 0.033 116.284 35 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 49 23.279 0.823 0.060 115.984 36 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 3 23.338 0.882 0.059 115.691 37 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 46 23.464 1.008 0.126 115.070 38 15 Derrike Cope Toyota 17 23.664 1.208 0.200 114.097
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