RELATED: Practice 2 results | Final practice results
Kyle Busch led the way in a brotherly 1-2 punch atop final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch landed a fast lap of 189.354 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota in the 50-minute session, the final tune-up for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM). He’ll start second to JGR teammate Matt Kenseth, the Coors Light Pole Award winner, in the fourth race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
Brother Kurt Busch was second-fastest at 188.996 mph in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet, backing up his fast time from second practice. The elder Busch was also fastest in the 10-lap average category, edging Jimmie Johnson over the longer run.
Joey Logano wound up third-fastest, turning a lap at 188.508 mph in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford. Chevrolet drivers Ryan Newman (188.488 mph) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (188.311) completed the top five.
Much like Friday’s earlier practice, the leaderboard was dominated by Chase-eligible drivers, who swept the top six spots. Kenseth was the furthest down the speed chart in 25th, battling through a tire rub after a slight scrape of the outside retaining wall.
Defending series champ and defending race winner Kevin Harvick managed the 12th-fastest lap, improving upon his 25th-best lap in the Friday’s earlier session.
Kurt Busch shows way in Friday’s first practice
Kurt Busch rocketed to the top of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leaderboard Friday, topping second practice Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch, driving the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet, clocked a fast lap of 188.772 mph on the 1.5-mile track. He also logged the third-most laps (45) of any driver in the 55-minute session in preparation for Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM), the fourth event in the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. Only teammate Tony Stewart (49) and Kyle Busch (48) turned more laps.
Carl Edwards, the winner of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, was second-fastest at 18.620 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota. Ryan Newman claimed the third-best lap (187.630 mph) in the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevrolet.
Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano completed the top five as Chase drivers swept the first eight spots on the practice leaderboard.
Jimmie Johnson, eliminated from title contention in last weekend’s Challenger Round finale at Dover, was fastest of the non-Chasers at ninth overall on the speed charts. His Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet was fastest in the five-lap average and 10-lap average categories, offering optimism for Johnson & Co. in terms of long-term speed.
Kevin Harvick, defending Sprint Cup Series champion and defending race winner, was 26th-fastest overall with the second-slowest lap among the remaining 12 Chase-eligible drivers. Jeff Gordon, prepping for what likely will be his final Charlotte Motor Speedway start, was slowest of the Chase drivers, 32nd overall.
Matt Kenseth, the Coors Light Pole Award winner in Thursday qualifying, was also well down the leaderboard in 22nd overall.