Kyle Larson tops final practice at Kentucky

After Jamie McMurray posted the top lap in first practice at Kentucky Speedway, Kyle Larson ran the fast lap in Happy Hour — 188.186mph.

“It’s always a little hard to get back to tracks where were we only race once a year, but fortunately my teammate, Jamie McMurray, had a good test at Kentucky a few months ago,” said Larson, who completed a tour-high 41 laps during the session. “That test should give our team some current info to help with setup…Kentucky is definitely a tough track with some challenging banking, but a cool place to race. I hope we can continue our solid runs and contend for a win this weekend.”

Martin Truex Jr. was second quick followed by Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, McMurray, Bubba Wallace and Clint Bowyer.

McMurray established the early quick speed in final practice with a top lap of 181.867mph after five circuits. After 10 minutes, Elliott jumped to the top of the speed chart with a lap of 183.499mph followed by his Hendrick teammate Johnson and the Hendrick-powered Larson. Daniel Suarez, Blaney, McMurray, Joey Logano, Bowyer, AJ Allmendinger and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10.

After being held for 15 minutes of practice for failing inspection at Daytona, Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Cole Whitt and Ryan Sieg were released. Elliott remained on top, Suarez moved to second followed by Johnson, Larson, Keselowski, Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Mcmurray, Bowyer and Logano rounded out the top 10.

Bubba Wallace vaulted to P1 with a lap of 184.395mph in his first lap of a qualifying run. He told TV this was his last race of the year — with the recovering Aric Almirola expected to return to the seat of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“Being on top of the board for practice is a first for me,” Wallace said. “We’re trying to get the top starting spot for Ford.”

Elliott dropped to second followed by Hamlin, Suarez, Johnson, Larson, McMurray, Keselowski, Blaney and Kurt Busch. NASCAR freed the second round of practice holds after 30-minutes. Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., hit the track. Truex was let go five minutes later.

Kyle Busch bumped Wallace with a lap of 185.573mph. Jones’s first lap was good for third (183.524mph) then Truex vaulted to second on his first lap (184.716mph) and knocked Jones to fourth. Stenhouse completed his Q-run and seized second-place on the speed chart at the 40-minute mark. Four minutes later, NASCAR finally allowed Matt Kenseth to leave pit road. Kenseth posted the fifth-fastest speed in his mock qualifying run.

After 50 minutes, Kyle Busch held the top speed followed by Stenhouse, Truex, Wallace, Kenseth, Johnson, Jones, Elliott, Hamlin and Larson. Larson’s 37 laps were the most completed. Blaney shot to the top two minutes later on his 23rd lap. Bowyer claimed on his Q-run.

Before the 55-minute mark, Johnson topped Blaney. Truex then bumped Johnson. Kyle Busch moved to second at the one-hour mark. Johnson, Kenseth and Blaney held onto the top-five single lap speeds. Moments later, Elliott ran the seventh-fastest lap — 185.675mph.

(Turns) 1 and 2 were pretty good,” Elliott said. “A tick free going into (turn) 3.”

At one hour, 10 minutes into final practice, Larson bounced up to P1 with a single-lap run of 188.186mph. Seventy-five minutes in, Truex returned to second. Elliott, Blaney and Kyle Busch held onto the top five.

Larson also topped the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average category with a speed of 181.516mph. Johnson, Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Suarez, Michael McDowell, McMurray, Kurt Busch and Logano rounded out the top 10.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	41	28.695			188.186
2	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	9	28.848	0.153	0.153	187.188
3	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	29	28.892	0.197	0.044	186.903
4	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	28	28.961	0.266	0.069	186.458
5	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	9	28.991	0.296	0.030	186.265
6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	39	28.999	0.304	0.008	186.213
7	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	7	29.018	0.323	0.019	186.091
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	27	29.018	0.323	0.000	186.091
9	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Ford	8	29.042	0.347	0.024	185.938
10	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	23	29.051	0.356	0.009	185.880
11	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	15	29.113	0.418	0.062	185.484
12	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	6	29.128	0.433	0.015	185.389
13	22	Joey Logano	Ford	37	29.139	0.444	0.011	185.319
14	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	15	29.166	0.471	0.027	185.147
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	34	29.210	0.515	0.044	184.868
16	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	22	29.228	0.533	0.018	184.754
17	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	19	29.246	0.551	0.018	184.641
18	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	33	29.272	0.577	0.026	184.477
19	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	25	29.280	0.585	0.008	184.426
20	38	David Ragan	Ford	25	29.437	0.742	0.157	183.443
21	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	34	29.452	0.757	0.015	183.349
22	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	20	29.458	0.763	0.006	183.312
23	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	28	29.515	0.820	0.057	182.958
24	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	22	29.565	0.870	0.050	182.648
25	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	49	29.591	0.896	0.026	182.488
26	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	24	29.611	0.916	0.020	182.365
27	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	39	29.731	1.036	0.120	181.629
28	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	37	29.739	1.044	0.008	181.580
29	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	23	29.836	1.141	0.097	180.989
30	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	36	30.006	1.311	0.170	179.964
31	83	Ryan Sieg	Toyota	29	30.256	1.561	0.250	178.477
32	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	3	30.385	1.690	0.129	177.719
33	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	9	30.388	1.693	0.003	177.702
34	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	13	30.431	1.736	0.043	177.451
35	15	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	13	30.457	1.762	0.026	177.299
36	23	Joey Gase	Toyota	21	30.549	1.854	0.092	176.765
37	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	13	30.738	2.043	0.189	175.678
38	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	6	30.986	2.291	0.248	174.272
39	55	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	12	31.254	2.559	0.268	172.778
40	66	Timmy Hill	Chevrolet	13	31.457	2.762	0.203	171.663