Kurt Busch leads the way in first Darlington practice

Busch’s average lap speed of 171.261 mph, set at the end of the 55-minute session at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, topped William Byron (170.703 mph) and Aric Almirola (170.065 mph).

Busch, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, has made 22 career starts at Darlington without a victory. His best finish is a pair of thirds (2017 and 2010).

Alex Bowman ended up fourth and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney, Paul Menard and Martin Truex Jr.

Brad Keselowski, who won this race a year ago, ended up 19th-fastest.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	34	28.714			171.261
2	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	29	28.808	0.094	0.094	170.703
3	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	18	28.916	0.202	0.108	170.065
4	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	26	28.929	0.215	0.013	169.989
5	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	26	28.985	0.271	0.056	169.660
6	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	20	29.016	0.302	0.031	169.479
7	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	23	29.070	0.356	0.054	169.164
8	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	21	29.120	0.406	0.050	168.874
9	21	Paul Menard		Ford	16	29.134	0.420	0.014	168.792
10	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	27	29.135	0.421	0.001	168.787
11	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	31	29.196	0.482	0.061	168.434
12	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	19	29.199	0.485	0.003	168.417
13	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	17	29.201	0.487	0.002	168.405
14	22	Joey Logano		Ford	29	29.205	0.491	0.004	168.382
15	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	29	29.224	0.510	0.019	168.273
16	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	23	29.238	0.524	0.014	168.192
17	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	27	29.247	0.533	0.009	168.140
18	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	30	29.256	0.542	0.009	168.089
19	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	15	29.338	0.624	0.082	167.619
20	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	28	29.362	0.648	0.024	167.482
21	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	33	29.395	0.681	0.033	167.294
22	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	20	29.437	0.723	0.042	167.055
23	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	28	29.519	0.805	0.082	166.591
24	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	12	29.552	0.838	0.033	166.405
25	38	David Ragan		Ford	22	29.565	0.851	0.013	166.332
26	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	20	29.595	0.881	0.030	166.163
27	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	14	29.643	0.929	0.048	165.894
28	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	18	29.692	0.978	0.049	165.620
29	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	31	29.809	1.095	0.117	164.970
30	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	20	29.906	1.192	0.097	164.435
31	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	22	29.916	1.202	0.010	164.380
32	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	18	30.146	1.432	0.230	163.126
33	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	23	30.217	1.503	0.071	162.743
34	52	J.J. Yeley		Ford	6	30.277	1.563	0.060	162.420
35	51	B.J. McLeod		Ford	4	30.484	1.770	0.207	161.317
36	77	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	14	30.534	1.820	0.050	161.053
37	54	Garrett Smithley		Chevrolet	4	30.851	2.137	0.317	159.398
38	27	Joe Nemechek		Chevrolet	9	30.964	2.250	0.113	158.817