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Kurt Busch leads second Cup practice, Dale Jr. hits trouble

Kurt Busch led the way in Saturday’s first Sprint Cup practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway which also saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. have to leave the track with smoke pouring from his No. 88 Chevrolet.

Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

NASCAR Media

Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Busch ended the session by posting the fastest single-lap speed (191.002 mph), which he did early in the session.

“This last shock change was really good,” Busch said over his team radio as the session ended. “I don’t know why it enabled me to go to the gas so early. Still loose out of (Turn) 4.”

Busch has one victory at CMS in his Sprint Cup career – the 2010 Coca-Cola 600. He will line up 13th in Sunday’s race.

Jimmie Johnson was second-fastest, pole-winner Martin Truex Jr. was third, Carl Edwards fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five.

The rest of the top 10: Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson.

Truex had the fastest average speed among those who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, followed by Johnson and Elliott.

With less than 20 minutes left in the session, smoke began pouring out of Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevy and it appeared he may have dropped some fluid on the track.

He returned to garage and his team later diagnosed the problem as a broken seal on his power steering box, which was leaking.

After making some quick repairs, Earnhardt was able to return to the track for about the last five minutes of practice. He ended up with the 18th-fastest lap in the session.

“It’s tight in the landing area, through the center (of the corner),” Earnhardt said on his radio during his final stint on the track. “I just don’t have a lot of front grip.”

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