Busch tops Cup practice before incident; Blaney leads title contenders

Busch posted the fastest average speed of 130.813 mph early in the 50-minute session Friday at Phoenix Raceway but ran eventually ran into an issue.

Just over 32 minutes into the session, A.J. Allmendinger drifted up the track and into Busch in Turn 4 and the two made contact. Allmendinger spun around which brought out a caution.

The damage did not appear extensive to either car. The session resumed several minutes later.

With less than five minutes remaining, Championship 4 driver Kyle Larson appeared to come close to tagging the Turn 1 wall but escaped any damage to his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Bubba Wallace ended second-quick (130.676 mph) and title contender Ryan Blaney was third (130.425 mph).

Fellow title contender Christopher Bell was fourth and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five.

Completing the top-10 were Joey Logano, Championship 4 driver William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski.

Larson was the slowest of the Championship 4 drivers, ending up 11th fastest.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, Bell had the fastest average lap speed (129.600 mph). He was followed by Blaney, Byron, Kevin Harvick and Busch in that category.

Cla	Driver	#		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	K. BUSCHRichard Childress Racing	8		Chevrolet	61	27.520		130.814
2	B. WALLACE23XI Racing	23		Toyota	69	+0.029 27.549	0.029	130.676
3	R. BLANEYTeam Penske	12		Ford	63	+0.082 27.602	0.053	130.425
4	C. BELLJoe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	50	+0.092 27.612	0.010	130.378
5	R. CHASTAINTrackHouse Racing	1		Chevrolet	67	+0.092 27.612	0.000	130.378
6	J. LOGANOTeam Penske	22		Ford	61	+0.157 27.677	0.065	130.072
7	W. BYRONHendrick Motorsports	24		Chevrolet	59	+0.170 27.690	0.013	130.011
8	T. REDDICK23XI Racing	45		Toyota	50	+0.170 27.690	0.000	130.011
9	T. GIBBSJoe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	39	+0.181 27.701	0.011	129.959
10	B. KESELOWSKIRFK Racing	6		Ford	62	+0.205 27.725	0.024	129.847
11	K. LARSONHendrick Motorsports	5		Chevrolet	50	+0.205 27.725	0.000	129.847
12	K. HARVICKStewart-Haas Racing	4		Ford	60	+0.208 27.728	0.003	129.833
13	M. TRUEX JRJoe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	51	+0.225 27.745	0.017	129.753
14	H. BURTONWood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	55	+0.227 27.747	0.002	129.744
15	A. ALLMENDINGERKaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	35	+0.230 27.750	0.003	129.730
16	M. MCDOWELLFront Row Motorsports	34		Ford	51	+0.237 27.757	0.007	129.697
17	E. JONESLegacy Motor Club	43		Chevrolet	37	+0.241 27.761	0.004	129.678
18	D. HAMLINJoe Gibbs Racing	11		Toyota	35	+0.241 27.761	0.000	129.678
19	C. BUESCHERRFK Racing	17		Ford	58	+0.265 27.785	0.024	129.566
20	J. HALEYKaulig Racing	31		Chevrolet	28	+0.270 27.790	0.005	129.543
21	C. ELLIOTTHendrick Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	49	+0.271 27.791	0.001	129.538
22	A. BOWMANHendrick Motorsports	48		Chevrolet	62	+0.278 27.798	0.007	129.506
23	R. STENHOUSE JRJTG Daugherty Racing	47		Chevrolet	38	+0.303 27.823	0.025	129.389
24	D. SUAREZTrackHouse Racing	99		Chevrolet	35	+0.304 27.824	0.001	129.385
25	C. BRISCOEStewart-Haas Racing	14		Ford	68	+0.325 27.845	0.021	129.287
26	A. CINDRICTeam Penske	2		Ford	46	+0.341 27.861	0.016	129.213
27	C. HOCEVARLegacy Motor Club	42		Chevrolet	60	+0.343 27.863	0.002	129.204
28	A. ALMIROLAStewart-Haas Racing	10		Ford	59	+0.344 27.864	0.001	129.199
29	R. PREECEStewart-Haas Racing	41		Ford	46	+0.348 27.868	0.004	129.180
30	C. LAJOIESpire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	43	+0.349 27.869	0.001	129.176
31	A. DILLONRichard Childress Racing	3		Chevrolet	43	+0.426 27.946	0.077	128.820
32	T. GILLILANDFront Row Motorsports	38		Ford	35	+0.475 27.995	0.049	128.594
33	T. DILLONSpire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	44	+0.578 28.098	0.103	128.123
34	J. YELEYRick Ware Racing	15		Ford	40	+0.594 28.114	0.016	128.050
35	B. MCLEODLive Fast Motorsports	78		Chevrolet	21	+0.703 28.223	0.109	127.556
36	R. NEWMANRick Ware Racing	51		Ford	31	+0.804 28.324	0.101	127.101