RELATED: Practice 1 results
Kurt Busch scooted to the top of the leaderboard in Thursday’s opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch registered a fast lap of 192.843 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet in the first prep session for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), the series’ longest race of the year.
Busch’s lap was .233 seconds faster than Jimmie Johnson, who leads the 1.5-mile track’s all-time win list with seven Charlotte victories. Johnson turned the second-fastest lap at 191.252 mph in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet.
Defending race winner Carl Edwards was third-fastest at 191.042 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota. Kevin Harvick (190.772 mph) and Kyle Larson (190.745) completed the top five.
Joey Logano, a winner at Charlotte last weekend in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, encountered some trouble before turning the sixth-fastest lap. Logano’s Team Penske No. 22 Ford slowed with a broken rear spring as he exited pit road to open the sesssion, forcing him to the garage for repairs.
Reigning Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch, Edwards’ JGR teammate, clocked the 10th-fastest lap of the 85-minute session in the No. 18 Toyota.
Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the 600-mile race is scheduled for Thursday at 7:15 p.m. ET (FS1). Two more Sprint Cup practice sessions are slated for Saturday.