Ryan Blaney blazed to the top of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard to pace opening practice on a chilly, overcast Friday at Kansas Speedway.
Blaney’s Team Penske No. 12 Ford posted a chart-topping 192.130 mph lap on the 1.5-mile track. The 24-year-old driver has qualified on the front row for two of the last three Kansas races.
RELATED: Practice 1 results | Full schedule for Kansas
Kyle Busch logged the second-fastest lap, clocking 191.768 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota. Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott completed a top-five sweep by playoff-eligible drivers in the series’ first on-track activity of the weekend.
Kyle Larson crashed with 16 minutes remaining in the 50-minute opening session, crunching the outside retaining wall in Turn 2. He drove his Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet back to the garage with significant right-side damage, forcing the team to unload a reserve car.
“I’m good, just mad at myself,” Larson said after his release from the infield care center. “Got loose and had it corrected, then it’s like the second time I corrected, I don’t know if I got on the splitter or what, but then it didn’t turn and went straight. Just hate it that we wrecked a primary car there. I’m sure our backup car will be fine. We’re always pretty good here at Kansas, so we should be fine. I’ve been in a backup car here before and been really fast. We’ll just dig deep and work hard and see what we can do on Sunday.”
Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) is the final event in the three-race Round of 12 in the Monster Energy Series Playoffs. The field of championship-eligible drivers will be trimmed from 12 to eight after Sunday’s race.
Two teams were docked 15 minutes of practice time at the end of the session, both for being late to pre-race inspection:
- The No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.
Busch Pole Qualifying for the Monster Energy Series is scheduled for Friday at 7:10 p.m. ET (NBCSN).