Kyle Busch was fastest in final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Kansas Speedway while both Chip Ganassi Racing cars found trouble.
For Busch, the defending winner of the Go Bowling 400, he topped the session at 187.963mph. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is seeking his second Kansas win and first of the season Saturday night.
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Busch was fastest over Kyle Larson, whose lap of 187.833mph came after he returned to the track in a backup car. It was within the first five minutes of the session when Larson got loose in Turn 1 and hit the wall with the right-rear quarterpanel. The No. 42 Target team immediately pulled out the backup car for the point leader.
“I felt like I was going to crash every lap since we unloaded today,” Larson said after hitting the wall. “We only made like seven laps the first practice because I was spinning out every time. They made some big adjustments there between practices, but I actually thought my [Turns] 1 and 2 was better because as I run my [Turns] 3 and 4 has been my worst corner.
“I just tried to open my entry up a little bit in [Turn] 1 and it stepped out on me, I felt before I ever got to the corner, and I mean, I didn’t have really time to chase it. I feel bad that I wrecked a primary car. Our backup should be just as good, if not better than our primary car. Yeah, it’s just really, really edgy for some reason this weekend.”
Martin Truex Jr. was third fastest at 187.305mph with Ryan Blaney fourth fastest at 187.182mph and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five at 187.130mph.
The rest of the top 10 were Matt Kenseth (186.981mph), Jimmie Johnson (186.580mph), Jamie McMurray (186.561mph), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.451mph), and Kasey Kahne (186.310mph).
McMurray brought out the second caution in the session when he got loose and hit the wall with the right rear of his No. 1 Chevrolet. However, McMurray’s team fixed the minor damage and he remains in his primary car.
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