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Ryan Blaney tops final practice at Kansas

Ryan Blaney led final practice with a lap of 182.057mph at Kansas Speedway on Saturday.

Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford

John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images

Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford

Hopefully, the speed will serve him well on Sunday. Blaney's qualifying time was disallowed after NASCAR officials discovered the package tray on the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford was bowed during inspection. He will start at the rear of the field for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. 

Blaney, who originally qualified third, said track position would be huge for the race. His consolation prize rediscovering that speed in Happy Hour.

Kyle Busch was second-quick followed by Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Jamie McMurray. 

Keselowski was the first driver on the track followed by Martin Truex Jr., and Blaney, who shot to the top of the speed chart with a lap of 182.057mph. Kyle Busch quickly moved up to second-quick (181.843mph) followed by Suarez (181.665mph), Kenseth (181.543mph), Bowyer (181.452mph), Jones (181.421mph), Keselowski (181.202mph), Chris Buescher (181.172mph), Truex (181.074mph) and Joey Logano (180.929mph). 

After the first five minutes, the top 10 remained the same, while Jimmie Johnson ran 11th (180.892mph), followed by Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Kasey Kahne.

Kyle Larson, who led the first two sessions, was 13th-quick on his first lap then bounced up to seventh (181.232mph). He was bumped to eighth by Kevin Harvick, who vaulted to third on his first run with a fast-single lap speed of 181.720mph. 

Before the 15-minute practice holds were released by NASCAR, Blaney continued to hold the top single-lap speed after 12 laps followed by Kyle Busch, Harvick, Suarez, Kenseth, Bowyer, Jones, Larson, Keselowski and Buescher. 

Derrike Cope, Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne, Chase Elliott, Paul Menard and Aric Almirola were released from the penalty box. McMurray moved up to P15 on his first run (180.693mph). Elliott was initially 25th (179.063mph) followed by Bayne (27th), Menard (28th) and Cope was 30th.

As teams concentrated on long runs, Suarez 35 circuits were the most posted after 30-minutes in the session. McMurray ran 11th followed by Truex, Logano, Johnson, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Newman, Hamlin, Earnhardt and Stenhouse, who brushed the wall on his penultimate run. 

McMurray climbed up to 10th with a quick single-lap speed with 10 minutes remaining. With less than five minutes into the session, Daniel Hemric climbed into the No. 27 Chevy to get a feel for the car in case he has to fill in for Menard, who is on baby watch.  

“Yeah, obviously first off that is a cool situation for Paul and his wife waiting on the birth of their second child," Hemric said. "So, that has got to be exciting. I’m just lucky to have the call to hopefully get in when the time comes and if it comes during the race weekend. So, just trying to take all the precautions possible to be ready if that time does happen here this weekend or whatever weekend it is moving forward. Just excited to be part of it.”

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph
1 21 united_states Ryan Blaney  Ford 44 29.661     182.057
2 18 united_states Kyle Busch  Toyota 40 29.696 0.035 0.035 181.843
3 4 united_states Kevin Harvick  Ford 38 29.716 0.055 0.020 181.720
4 19 mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota 44 29.725 0.064 0.009 181.665
5 20 united_states Matt Kenseth  Toyota 51 29.745 0.084 0.020 181.543
6 14 united_states Clint Bowyer  Ford 33 29.760 0.099 0.015 181.452
7 77 united_states Erik Jones  Toyota 38 29.765 0.104 0.005 181.421
8 42 united_states Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 51 29.796 0.135 0.031 181.232
9 2 united_states Brad Keselowski  Ford 51 29.801 0.140 0.005 181.202
10 1 united_states Jamie McMurray  Chevrolet 37 29.804 0.143 0.003 181.184
11 37 united_states Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 32 29.806 0.145 0.002 181.172
12 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 38 29.822 0.161 0.016 181.074
13 22 united_states Joey Logano  Ford 47 29.846 0.185 0.024 180.929
14 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 53 29.852 0.191 0.006 180.892
15 3 united_states Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 46 29.864 0.203 0.012 180.820
16 41 united_states Kurt Busch  Ford 42 29.896 0.235 0.032 180.626
17 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 21 29.901 0.240 0.005 180.596
18 31 united_states Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 27 29.925 0.264 0.024 180.451
19 11 united_states Denny Hamlin  Toyota 47 29.944 0.283 0.019 180.337
20 24 united_states Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 38 29.954 0.293 0.010 180.276
21 88 united_states Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet 43 29.961 0.300 0.007 180.234
22 17 united_states Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 34 29.979 0.318 0.018 180.126
23 5 united_states Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 46 29.998 0.337 0.019 180.012
24 95 united_states Michael McDowell  Chevrolet 37 30.059 0.398 0.061 179.647
25 13 united_states Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 33 30.124 0.463 0.065 179.259
26 6 united_states Trevor Bayne  Ford 25 30.144 0.483 0.020 179.140
27 27 united_states Paul Menard  Chevrolet 27 30.173 0.512 0.029 178.968
28 10 united_states Danica Patrick  Ford 38 30.229 0.568 0.056 178.636
29 38 united_states David Ragan  Ford 39 30.279 0.618 0.050 178.341
30 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto  Ford 25 30.399 0.738 0.120 177.637
31 43 united_states Aric Almirola  Ford 24 30.439 0.778 0.040 177.404
32 34 united_states Landon Cassill  Ford 35 30.537 0.876 0.098 176.835
33 72 united_states Cole Whitt  Chevrolet 19 30.579 0.918 0.042 176.592
34 15 united_states Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 23 30.771 1.110 0.192 175.490
35 23 united_states Corey Lajoie  Toyota 18 30.870 1.209 0.099 174.927
36 33 united_states Jeffrey Earnhardt  Chevrolet 21 31.047 1.386 0.177 173.930
37 83 united_states Brett Moffitt  Toyota 32 31.048 1.387 0.001 173.924
38 00 united_states Derrike Cope  Chevrolet 18 32.531 2.870 1.483 165.996

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