Kyle Busch leads first Bristol practice

Busch preferred the lower lane as he posted a quick lap of 128.969mph (14.878sec). His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (128.649mph) was second followed by Kyle Larson (128.597mph), Chase Elliott (128.511mph) and Aric Almirola (128.503mph).

Brad Keselowski (128.468mph), Ryan Blaney (128.451mph), Austin Dillon (128.356mph), Martin Truex Jr. (128.339mph) and Carl Edwards (128.193mph) rounded out the top 10 in single lap runs.

“I don’t think anyone knows where the fast groove is going to be,” Edwards said. “It moved around a lot in practice.”

With five wins at Thunder Valley, Busch shares the record for most victories among current drivers with Jeff Gordon. But at the end of the 80-minute session, Gordon, who is subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. acknowledged, “We’re really struggling on the bottom after running a couple of laps.”

That wasn’t the case for Busch who enjoys how the half-mile, high-banked track tests a driver’s abilities.

“I think the most challenging aspect of Bristol is just how difficult it is to transition through from the straightaways to the corners, back to the straightaways, and have your car set up in order to do all that,” Busch said.

“Sometimes you can be really loose getting in, or you can be really tight in the middle – you just seem to never be able to get a good-flowing car that works well there. Drivers have to do a lot of manipulation on the racetrack with their car in order to try to make the best of it.”

Hamlin, whose 99 laps were the most completed, was also fastest in the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Averages with a speed of 126.740mph. Blaney (126.485mph), Keselowski (126.219mph), AJ Allmendinger (126.207mph) and Kevin Harvick (126.191mph) rounded out the top five. Almirola (126.128mph), Edwards (126.016mph), Dillon (125.907mph), Elliott (125.692mph) and Jamie McMurray (125.665mph) completed the category.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	80	14.878			128.969
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	99	14.915	0.037	0.037	128.649
3	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	50	14.921	0.043	0.006	128.597
4	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	81	14.931	0.053	0.010	128.511
5	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	63	14.932	0.054	0.001	128.503
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	61	14.936	0.058	0.004	128.468
7	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	65	14.938	0.060	0.002	128.451
8	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	59	14.949	0.071	0.011	128.356
9	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	40	14.951	0.073	0.002	128.339
10	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	58	14.968	0.090	0.017	128.193

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