Chip Ganassi Racing driver off to good start at 1.5-mile speedway
RELATED: Practice results | Live Kentucky weather updates
Sprint Cup Series cars were able to get back on the track at Kentucky Speedway in a revised second practice on Friday, but the results were largely the same as the first session, as Kyle Larson topped the charts and Brad Keselowski followed.
Larson paced the second session with a best speed of 178.412 mph, with defending race-winner Keselowski just off his pace at 178.124 mph. Keselowski's Team Penske teammate Joey Logano nearly matched the 2012 champ at 178.042 mph, good for third. Denny Hamlin (177.626 mph) and Kurt Busch (177.357 mph) rounded out the top five.
Austin Dillon doesn't appear to be suffering any ill effects from the hard wreck he endured at Daytona early Monday morning, as he placed sixth in the session at 177.352 mph.
Matt Kenseth landed his No. 20 Toyota in the grass after spinning with five minutes remaining in the session.
Qualifying was canceled, so Larson will start Saturday’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, PRN, SiriusXM) on the pole position alongside Keselowski.
Larson tops rain-shortened opening session | Results
In the first on-track session testing a new track-specific aero package, Kyle Larson topped the leaderboard for Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway on Friday morning.
The series was originally supposed to run two sessions, but the two were combined with the threat of rain in the area. That threat proved to be true, as rain halted the on-track activity shortly before 11:30 a.m. ET.
Larson’s best speed of 182.537 mph paced the field, followed by defending race-winner Brad Keselowski (181.641 mph). Jeff Gordon, looking for his first win at the Sparta, Kentucky, track, was third on the charts at 180.373 mph. Joey Logano (180.102 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (179.958 mph) closed out the top five.
With time on track at a premium, Kyle Busch (179.551 mph) and Alex Kennedy (168.052 mph) ran the most laps, with 26 circuits each.
There was a small incident between the No. 35 of Cole Whitt and No. 9 of Sam Hornish Jr. in the garage area. Whitt rear-ended Hornish, who'd slammed on the brakes at the garage exit to avoid the No. 10 of Danica Patrick.
Sprint Cup Series qualifying is set to begin at 5:45 p.m. ET, with coverage on NBC Sports Network.
Tune in Saturday night for the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network (PRN, SiriusXM) and Live Extra.