Sprint Cup Series lays first rubber on track after rainy morning; Nationwide Series has practices combined
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NATIONWIDE SERIES PRACTICE | RESULTS
Ryan Blaney topped the leaderboard in the lone Nationwide Series practice session, putting the No. 22 Team Penske Ford in the first position with a lap of 180.048 mph. Rookies Chris Buescher and Ty Dillon were close behind but couldn't top the 180 mph mark, taking second and third with laps of 179.880 and 179.456, respectively. Buescher ran the most laps of the session with 55, but scored his best lap in the Roush Fenway Racing Ford on his 27th turn around the track.
Kyle Busch and Trevor Bayne completed the top five. Busch took the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota for a spin earlier in the session, but kept it out of the wall, preventing any major damage. After some adjustments in the garage, Busch was able to move his ride up towards the top of the leaderboard. Dakoda Armstrong also faced issues handling his No. 43, spinning in Turns 2 and 3 to bring out a caution flag during practice, ending the session in 23rd.
Points leader Chase Elliott's best effort of 178.743 mph put his No. 9 Chevrolet in the 13th position on the leaderboard. His closest competition for the series title, teammate Regan Smith, was just behind in 16th place with a lap of 178.171 mph.
After the first scheduled practice was canceled due to rain Friday morning, the second session -- originally slated to run from 3 to 4:20 p.m. ET -- was extended to a 4 to 5:30 p.m. ET practice.
Qualifying is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, with coverage on FOX Sports 2. The Kansas Lottery 300 will follow at 3:30 p.m. ET, and will be televised on ESPN.
SPRINT CUP SERIES PRACTICE 1 | RESULTS
After a rainy morning at Kansas Speedway, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series went out on schedule to lay rubber onto the clean track. Chase contender Jeff Gordon topped the leaderboard with a fastest lap of 196.257 mph, followed by Kevin Harvick, whose lap of 196.178 mph showed the No. 4 will once again be one of the fastest cars on the track. Gordon and Harvick are both defending winners at the track, with Gordon winning the May race at Kansas Speedway and Harvick winning the fall race last year.
Greg Biffle and Aric Almirola, who were both eliminated from the Chase after last weekend's race at Dover International Speedway, practiced as though they were still in contention, both placing inside the top 10, with Biffle's lap of 195.730 mph placing him third on the leaderboard. Almirola ended the session in ninth. Kyle Larson was fourth-fastest, with fellow rookie Austin Dillon in rounding out the top five.
Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman were the only drivers among the remaining Chase competitors to place in the top 10, finishing seventh, eighth and 10th, respectively.
Team Penske drivers Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, both winners in the Challenger Round of the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format, were 12th-fastest and 18th-fastest, respectively. Among the other Chase contenders, Jimmie Johnson was 14th-fastest, Carl Edwards was 21st-fastest and Kyle Busch 25th-fastest, with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver at the bottom of the leaderboard among the post-season players.
Qualifying for the Hollywood Casino 400 is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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