Practice report

NASCAR Cup Dover II

Matt Kenseth leads clean opening practice at Dover

Three-time Dover International Speedway winner Matt Kenseth was fastest in first practice at the Monster Mile.

Lee Spencer

Edited: Sep 29, 2017, 3:42 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

The lame duck driver, who is still looking for a landing pad for 2018, posted the top single-lap speed of 162.550mph. He completed just seven laps in the 85-minute session.

Kyle Larson, who finished second to Kenseth in 2016 when the No. 20 team posted its last win at the track, was second-fast on Friday (162.023mph) followed by Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez.

There was no big rush to get the party started on the Monster Mile on Friday morning. David Ragan posted the first lap just before the four-minute mark. He set the early pace of 153.919mph (23.389-sec.). Kasey Kahne was second on the track and his third lap produced a time of 23.521-seconds (153.055mph). Just after seven minutes, Keselowski posted the fastest lap (154.044mph) in his initial run. Harvick topped him with a speed of 156.644mph. Ryan Blaney joined the session after eight minutes. He was third-quick (155.280mph).

After 10 minutes, 11 cars had set speeds. Trevor Bayne jumped up to second with his lap of 156.060mph. Keselowski, Blaney, Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher, Ragan, Paul Menard and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 10.

Kurt Busch vaulted to P1 after 12-minutes with a lap of 156.331mph. Jamie McMurray’s first lap was 10th-quick (154.839mph). The No. 48 Chevy was the next car to the top of the chart with a lap 159.652mph, but the 11-time Dover winner improved to 160.635mph on Lap 2.

Fifteen minutes into first practice, Johnson held onto the top spot followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose best lap was 157.185mph after six circuits.

“I feel like we checked all the boxes,” “I like the balance a lot. We land a little tight but once it gets through landing it gets off real good — center off.”

Daniel Suarez first two-lap run was second-quick (159.737mph) before 18-minutes on the board. Three-time winner Ryan Newman (159.081mph) ran third followed by Truex (158.541mph), Harvick, Earnhardt, Chase Elliott and Kurt Busch.

Just before 20-minutes in, Denny Hamlin climbed to P2 (159.986mph) on his first lap. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Matt Kenseth (159.808mph) and Suarez were bumped to third and fourth followed by Newman, Truex, Harvick, Earnhardt, Elliott and Kurt Busch. Thirty-five drivers had completed one lap with the playoff contenders running first (Johnson) through 24th (McMurray).

Kyle Busch was the next driver to break into the top-five speeds. Busch’s best time was 22.413-seconds (160.621mph) after two laps. Twenty-five minutes into the 85-minute session, 37 drivers completed at least one lap.

Johnson continued to lead the session 30-minutes into first practice followed Kyle Busch, Newman (160.007mph), Hamlin, Kenseth, Suarez, Truex, Harvick, Clint Bowyer (157.350mph) and Kyle Larson (157.295mph) after a 10-lap run. Earnhardt, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Stenhouse, Blaney, Michael McDowell, Kahne, Bayne, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 20.

Forty cars had completed a lap 35-minutes into practice. David Ragan jumped back into the top 10 with a lap of 158.200mph. Bayne’s 22 laps were the most completed. On a mock qualifying run, Earnhardt moved up to P3 with a lap of 160.531mph. Newman dropped to fourth followed by Keselowski, Hamlin, Kenseth, Suarez, Truex and Ragan.

Larson bumped Johnson just after 50-minutes in with a lap of 162.023mph. Kyle Busch was third followed by Earnhardt, Kenseth, McMurray, Newman, Keselowski, Truex and Kurt Busch. Hamlin, Bowyer, Suarez, Kahne, Blaney, Ragan, Jones, Buescher and Allmendinger rounded out the top 20.

NASCAR waved the caution just before the one-hour mark for debris. Blaney had just reported a left-front flat tire prior to the yellow flag.

After the first hour, Larson remained fastest in single-lap speeds followed by Harvick (161.696mph) Kurt Busch (161.204mph), Johnson, Kyle Busch, Earnhardt, Kenseth, McMurray, Newman and Keselowski. Hamlin cracked the top-five speeds with a lap of 161.298mph two minutes later.

With 15-minutes remaining in the session, Suarez returned to the top-five with a speed of 161.240 for fourth. Kurt Busch dropped to fifth followed by Johnson. Johnson cruised up to second with a lap of 162.023mph. Harvick fell to third. Truex (161.464mph), Hamlin, Suarez, Kurt Busch, Earnhardt, Kyle Busch and Kenseth rounded out the top 10 with 10-minutes to go.

Kenseth topped Larson with a lap of 162.550mph in the final seven minutes. Kyle Busch climbed to fourth (161.980mph). Harvick, Elliott, Truex, Hamlin, Suarez and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. On Kurt Busch’s final mock Q-run, he rolled back up to sixth (161.660mph).

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 20 united_states Matt Kenseth Toyota 7 22.147 162.550 2 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 16 22.219 0.072 0.072 162.023 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 8 22.219 0.072 0.000 162.023 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 7 22.225 0.078 0.006 161.980 5 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 17 22.264 0.117 0.039 161.696 6 41 united_states Kurt Busch Ford 10 22.269 0.122 0.005 161.660 7 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 25 22.283 0.136 0.014 161.558 8 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 11 22.296 0.149 0.013 161.464 9 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 9 22.319 0.172 0.023 161.298 10 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 10 22.327 0.180 0.008 161.240 11 31 united_states Ryan Newman Chevrolet 12 22.359 0.212 0.032 161.009 12 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 15 22.366 0.219 0.007 160.959 13 22 Joey Logano Ford 29 22.426 0.279 0.060 160.528 14 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 13 22.446 0.299 0.020 160.385 15 21 Ryan Blaney Ford 17 22.450 0.303 0.004 160.356 16 2 united_states Brad Keselowski Ford 16 22.457 0.310 0.007 160.306 17 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 16 22.513 0.366 0.056 159.908 18 77 Erik Jones Toyota 16 22.515 0.368 0.002 159.893 19 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 20 22.548 0.401 0.033 159.659 20 38 David Ragan Ford 10 22.597 0.450 0.049 159.313 21 95 united_states Michael McDowell Chevrolet 10 22.610 0.463 0.013 159.222 22 43 Aric Almirola Ford 23 22.628 0.481 0.018 159.095 23 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 14 22.652 0.505 0.024 158.926 24 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 22 22.656 0.509 0.004 158.898 25 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 8 22.679 0.532 0.023 158.737 26 27 united_states Paul Menard Chevrolet 20 22.684 0.537 0.005 158.702 27 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 10 22.684 0.537 0.000 158.702 28 10 Danica Patrick Ford 16 22.708 0.561 0.024 158.534 29 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 15 22.784 0.637 0.076 158.006 30 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 29 22.802 0.655 0.018 157.881 31 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto Ford 12 22.841 0.694 0.039 157.611 32 83 Brett Moffitt Toyota 6 23.084 0.937 0.243 155.952 33 34 Landon Cassill Ford 19 23.186 1.039 0.102 155.266 34 23 Corey Lajoie Toyota 17 23.342 1.195 0.156 154.228 35 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 19 23.616 1.469 0.274 152.439 36 15 united_states Ross Chastain Chevrolet 20 23.722 1.575 0.106 151.758 37 66 Timmy Hill Chevrolet 5 23.779 1.632 0.057 151.394 38 55 Reed Sorenson Toyota 11 23.975 1.828 0.196 150.156 39 51 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 9 24.109 1.962 0.134 149.322 40 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 23 24.202 2.055 0.093 148.748

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article NASCAR playoffs: Handicapping the bottom feeders at Dover

Next article Patrick has no plans to return to IndyCar, focused on NASCAR options

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

1 h

Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season

Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

1 h

Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

2 h

Bubba Wallace laments mistake after heartbreaking Phoenix loss

NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

3 h

NASCAR is getting the championship finish it has pursued since 1992

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts