Practice report

NASCAR Cup Loudon

Truex tops second practice session in New Hampshire

Pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr. led the way in second practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday with a single-lap speed of 131.338mph.

Lee Spencer

Edited: Jul 15, 2017, 3:28 PM

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Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota

Polesitter Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota

Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Kyle Larson was second followed by Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, rookie Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer.

NASCAR applied additional PJ1 on the lower lane prior to the start of second practice on Saturday.

Elliott established a fast time followed by Kenseth, Larson, Johnson, Jones, Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Daniel Suarez. Once Larson got up to speed, however, he jumped to the top of the speed chart with a lap of 131.33mph after his first 14-lap run.

Fifteen minutes into the session, Larson remained on top followed by Elliott (131.162mph), Brad Keselowski (131.071mph), Jones (131.008), Kenseth (130.689mph), Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, Johnson and Hamlin.

Larson made a second 10-lap run in the next 15-minutes and held the top speed 30 minutes into practice. Truex moved up to third on the speed chart with a lap of 131.107mph. The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team — among others — remarked that rolling the center was where Truex picked up all of his speed.

On Truex’s third run, the No. 78 car leap-frogged over Larson with a speed of 131.338mph after 23 laps. With 10 minutes remaining in the 55-minute session, Larson held onto second followed by Johnson, Elliott, Keselowski, Jones, Kyle Busch, Kenseth, Hamlin and Bowyer.

"It's just a little bit tight through the center,” Hamlin said. "Not too bad everywhere else.”

Johnson’s 60 laps were the most completed at the end of second practice.

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 35 29.000 131.338 2 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 53 29.001 0.001 0.001 131.333 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 60 29.034 0.034 0.033 131.184 4 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 34 29.039 0.039 0.005 131.162 5 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 32 29.059 0.059 0.020 131.071 6 77 united_states Erik Jones Toyota 30 29.073 0.073 0.014 131.008 7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 43 29.092 0.092 0.019 130.923 8 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 42 29.114 0.114 0.022 130.824 9 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 26 29.149 0.149 0.035 130.667 10 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 33 29.178 0.178 0.029 130.537 11 5 united_states Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 34 29.201 0.201 0.023 130.434 12 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 34 29.215 0.215 0.014 130.371 13 41 Kurt Busch Ford 48 29.217 0.217 0.002 130.362 14 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 19 29.218 0.218 0.001 130.358 15 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 35 29.227 0.227 0.009 130.318 16 4 united_states Kevin Harvick Ford 35 29.243 0.243 0.016 130.247 17 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 37 29.246 0.246 0.003 130.233 18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 28 29.252 0.252 0.006 130.206 19 21 Ryan Blaney Ford 29 29.266 0.266 0.014 130.144 20 22 Joey Logano Ford 31 29.299 0.299 0.033 129.998 21 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 29 29.383 0.383 0.084 129.626 22 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27 29.395 0.395 0.012 129.573 23 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 28 29.448 0.448 0.053 129.340 24 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 35 29.550 0.550 0.102 128.893 25 43 Aric Almirola Ford 31 29.554 0.554 0.004 128.876 26 3 united_states Austin Dillon Chevrolet 32 29.565 0.565 0.011 128.828 27 10 Danica Patrick Ford 29 29.605 0.605 0.040 128.654 28 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 35 29.621 0.621 0.016 128.584 29 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 31 29.681 0.681 0.060 128.325 30 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 30 29.713 0.713 0.032 128.186 31 23 united_states Corey Lajoie Toyota 18 29.728 0.728 0.015 128.122 32 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 21 29.738 0.738 0.010 128.079 33 38 David Ragan Ford 33 29.758 0.758 0.020 127.992 34 34 Landon Cassill Ford 28 29.784 0.784 0.026 127.881 35 55 Gray Gaulding Toyota 21 29.936 0.936 0.152 127.231 36 15 united_states Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 12 30.162 1.162 0.226 126.278 37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 26 30.319 1.319 0.157 125.624 38 51 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet 17 30.556 1.556 0.237 124.650

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