Stenhouse tops first Atlanta Cup practice over Larson and Wallace

With less than 10 minutes remaining in first practice for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Stenhouse Jr. jumped to the top of the leader board with a speed of 186.384mph (29.745-sec).

Kyle Larson was second followed by Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., Ty Dillon, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr.

Wallace set the quick pace early after a two-lap run. He posted a fast lap of 185.834mph which held after the first 15 minutes. During a drive with team owner Richard Petty at a local Coca-Cola appearance, Wallace asked the King what his expectations were for the year.

“I wanted to see what his take was and he says looking back on last year, they knew where they stood, 15th to 20th more so on the back side of that,” Wallace said. “And he wants to improve to a top 8 to a top 12 team. And I’m like, okay, that’s right in the ballpark I was saying. I was saying top 10 to top 15, so he says yes there are going to be days where we are better than that, and there’s going to be days when we’re worse than that. But, we all have to keep in once piece and bring it home and let us work on it and not get behind.”

Ty Dillon was second-quick (185.648mph) in that first run followed by Bowman, Byron, Bowyer, Newman, Almirola, Menard, Allmendinger and Johnson.

After the first 30 minutes, Brad Keselowski and Harvick 17 laps—the most during the session. Only 30 drivers had posted laps.

Thirty-five minutes into the session, Larson topped Wallace’s speed with a lap of 185.915mph. Ty Dillon fell to third followed by Bowman, Byron, Bowyer, Newman, Almirola, Menard and Allmendinger.

Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick’s 19 laps each were the most completed at the 45-minute mark. The top 10 speeds remained the same followed by Johnson, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney, Jamie McMurray, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Denny Hamlin.

Thirty-five cars posted times after the first hour. Chevrolet drivers held the top-five speeds. Bowyer in a Ford ran sixth while Jones’ lap of 182.850mph was P15— the best lap for a Toyota. Johnson’s 20 circuits were the first completed in practice.

Stenhouse vaulted over Larson with a lap of 186.384mph at the one hour, 12-minute mark. Wallace dropped to third followed by Ty Dillon, Bowman, Hamlin, Harvick, Byron, Logano and Martin Truex Jr.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	19	29.745			186.384
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	5	29.820	0.075	0.075	185.915
3	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	16	29.833	0.088	0.013	185.834
4	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	19	29.863	0.118	0.030	185.648
5	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	14	29.920	0.175	0.057	185.294
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	18	29.935	0.190	0.015	185.201
7	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	21	29.971	0.226	0.036	184.979
8	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	18	30.022	0.277	0.051	184.665
9	22	Joey Logano	Ford	20	30.028	0.283	0.006	184.628
10	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	7	30.037	0.292	0.009	184.572
11	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	21	30.054	0.309	0.017	184.468
12	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	14	30.060	0.315	0.006	184.431
13	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	7	30.130	0.385	0.070	184.003
14	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	11	30.136	0.391	0.006	183.966
15	21	Paul Menard	Ford	13	30.169	0.424	0.033	183.765
16	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	23	30.175	0.430	0.006	183.728
17	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	17	30.178	0.433	0.003	183.710
18	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	14	30.199	0.454	0.021	183.582
19	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	17	30.240	0.495	0.041	183.333
20	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	5	30.258	0.513	0.018	183.224
21	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	19	30.300	0.555	0.042	182.970
22	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	11	30.320	0.575	0.020	182.850
23	95	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	16	30.322	0.577	0.002	182.838
24	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	21	30.346	0.601	0.024	182.693
25	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	15	30.373	0.628	0.027	182.531
26	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	5	30.416	0.671	0.043	182.272
27	38	David Ragan	Ford	12	30.449	0.704	0.033	182.075
28	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	9	30.503	0.758	0.054	181.753
29	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	13	30.533	0.788	0.030	181.574
30	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	14	30.725	0.980	0.192	180.439
31	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	10	30.750	1.005	0.025	180.293
32	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	10	31.145	1.400	0.395	178.006
33	23	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	7	31.966	2.221	0.821	173.434
34	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	6	32.028	2.283	0.062	173.099
35	00	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	12	32.762	3.017	0.734	169.220