Larson tops opening Michigan Cup practice with 200mph lap

Initially, the Monster Energy Cup Series was chasing Martin Truex Jr. at Michigan International Speedway in first practice on Friday — but Kyle Larson was able to top the No. 78 car with less than 10 minutes left in the session.

Larson’s lap of 200.798mph was the first to join Truex in exceeding the 200-mile-per-hour mark. With five minutes to go, Kyle Busch joined the 200-plus club with a lap of 200.619mph for second quick in single-lap speeds.

With two minutes to go in the session, Landon Cassill wadded up the No. 34 Ford as he backed into the Turn 2 wall. Cassill was then evaluated and released from the Infield Care Center at MIS.

Joey Logano (200.479mph) was third followed by Truex, Johnson, McMurray, Elliott, Bowyer, Blaney and Harvick. Darrell “Bubba” Wallace’s 28 laps were the most completed during his second weekend in the Cup series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. set the early pace with a lap of 197.325mph. At the 15-minute mark, Truex Jr. jumped to the top of the speed chart with a lap of 197.639mph. Five minutes later, Ryan Blaney’s lap of 197.395mph moved him up to second.

Kyle Busch was the next driver to top the chart after running 198.374mph 20 minutes into the session followed by Truex, Blaney, Earnhardt and Jamie McMurray (197.055mph). Clint Bowyer (196.996mph), Joey Logano (196.963mph), Kyle Larson (196.861mph), Kevin Harvick (196.623mph) and Jimmie Johnson (196.469mph) rounded out the top 10 single-lap speeds.

With an hour remaining in first practice, Wallace’s 15 laps were the most completed on the two-mile track. His top lap was 192.457mph.

Thirty minutes in, Harvick leapfrogged up to third-quick with a lap of 198.189mph. As teams switched over to race trim, Jimmie Johnson took the top spot (199.983mph). With 35 minutes to go,Truex topped the 200 mile-per-hour mark with a speed of 200.094mph in his fifth lap. Johnson held onto second followed by McMurray (199.463mph), Chase Elliott (199.291mph) and Kasey Kahne (198.906mph).

One hour into the 85-minute session, Truex’s lap held up for first followed by Johnson, Blaney (199.545mph) McMurray, Elliott, Earnhardt, Kahne, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski (109.385mph) and Harvick.

With 20-minutes to go, Larson moved up to ninth with a lap of 196.681mph.

“I can’t tell if the change hurt me in (turns) one and two or if I over-committed,” says Keselowski, who remained 10th on the speed chart.

Bowyer’s Q-run elevated him to third quick with a lap of 199.606mph with 15 minutes to go. Elliott jumped up to fourth (199.772mph) on his flyer run.

“I thought that was slightly better,” Elliott said.

Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were the only two drivers to qualify for 10 Consecutive Lap Averages. Busch’s 196.591mph run led the category. Hamlin’s speed was 194.626mph.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	15	35.857			200.798
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	20	35.889	0.032	0.032	200.619
3	22	Joey Logano	Ford	23	35.914	0.057	0.025	200.479
4	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	9	35.983	0.126	0.069	200.094
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	13	36.003	0.146	0.020	199.983
6	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	14	36.005	0.148	0.002	199.972
7	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	21	36.041	0.184	0.036	199.772
8	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	13	36.071	0.214	0.030	199.606
9	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	16	36.082	0.225	0.011	199.545
10	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	16	36.083	0.226	0.001	199.540
11	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	20	36.124	0.267	0.041	199.313
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	22	36.143	0.286	0.019	199.209
13	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	17	36.153	0.296	0.010	199.154
14	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	20	36.198	0.341	0.045	198.906
15	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	13	36.322	0.465	0.124	198.227
16	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	15	36.340	0.483	0.018	198.129
17	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	17	36.409	0.552	0.069	197.753
18	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	13	36.589	0.732	0.180	196.780
19	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	17	36.682	0.825	0.093	196.282
20	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	19	36.698	0.841	0.016	196.196
21	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	15	36.781	0.924	0.083	195.753
22	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	15	36.783	0.926	0.002	195.743
23	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	16	36.794	0.937	0.011	195.684
24	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	16	36.842	0.985	0.048	195.429
25	38	David Ragan	Ford	15	36.862	1.005	0.020	195.323
26	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	19	36.903	1.046	0.041	195.106
27	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	19	36.963	1.106	0.060	194.789
28	23	Ryan Sieg	Toyota	8	36.966	1.109	0.003	194.774
29	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	18	37.054	1.197	0.088	194.311
30	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	20	37.088	1.231	0.034	194.133
31	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Ford	28	37.132	1.275	0.044	193.903
32	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	16	37.156	1.299	0.024	193.778
33	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	21	37.159	1.302	0.003	193.762
34	83	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	8	37.325	1.468	0.166	192.900
35	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	12	37.915	2.058	0.590	189.898
36	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	13	38.075	2.218	0.160	189.100
37	15	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	11	38.179	2.322	0.104	188.585