Harvick sets pace in final Phoenix practice

Harvick, who won the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday qualifying, landed atop the leaderboard again with a fast lap of 136.555 mph. The series points leader will start his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet first in Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).

Matt Kenseth drove the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota to the second-fastest lap in the 50-minute session at 136.302 mph. Kurt Busch, Harvick’s SHR teammate in the No. 41 Chevrolet, backed up his fastest lap in second practice with the third-best lap at 136.291 mph in final practice.

Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano was fourth-fastest and Jamie McMurray completed the top five.

David Ragan turned the 14th-fastest lap in a fill-in role for injured Kyle Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Brett Moffitt was 33rd-fastest in place of Ragan in the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford.

AJ Allmendinger was 30th-fastest, turning 26 laps after his JTG-Daugherty Racing team made an engine change during Saturday’s earlier practice. He’ll start at the rear of the 43-car field Sunday.

Kurt Busch tops second Sprint Cup practice

Kurt Busch vaulted to the top of the leaderboard Saturday in the next-to-last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Phoenix International Raceway.

Busch, making his first start of the season after NASCAR lifted his suspension Wednesday, wheeled the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet to a fast lap of 136.768 mph on the one-mile track. In Friday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying, he earned the eighth starting position for Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).

Brad Keselowski was second-fastest at 136.379 mph in the Team Penske No. 2 Ford. Keselowski also held the distinction of running the fastest 10-lap average, running his first 10 laps of the 55-minute session at an average speed of 135.381 mph.

Kevin Harvick, who landed his first Coors Light Pole Award of the season in Friday’s qualifying, was third-best at 136.199 mph. He’ll be vying for his fourth consecutive Phoenix win Sunday in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevy.

Jamie McMurray was fourth-fastest with Kasey Kahne closing out the top five on the speed charts.

AJ Allmendinger logged the 25th-fastest lap, but his JTG-Daugherty team was forced to make an engine change. He’ll start last in Sunday’s 43-car field, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet.

“They saw something they didn’t like,” Allmendinger said. “What has been awesome about this whole ECR (engines) package is this is the first time I’ve has something like this happen in over a year. The guys are working hard. They will fix it. More importantly we have just got to make the Kingsford Chevy better. We are not very good right now.”

David Ragan, making his third start as a substitute for the injured Kyle Busch, was 17th-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Brett Moffitt — in his second start of a three-race deal with Front Row Motorsports, Ragan’s regular team — was 37th-fastest in the No. 34 Ford.

Final Sprint Cup practice is scheduled from 2:30-3:20 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 1).

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