Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global
Practice report

Larson tops first Cup practice at Dover

Kyle Larson continued his trend of topping the speed chart in practice.

Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet

Action Sports Photography

After sweeping all three sessions at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend, Larson posted the top speed of 165.578mph (21.742mph) in qualifying trim on his 25th lap of the 70-minute session.

Carl Edwards was second quick with a lap of 165.578mph, followed by Matt Kenseth (164.775mph), Ryan Newman (164.511mph), Jimmie Johnson (164.301mph), Chase Elliott (164.286mph), Denny Hamlin (163.845mph), Paul Menard (163.718mph), Austin Dillon (163.703mph) Martin Truex Jr. (163.584mph) and Kurt Busch (162.411mph).

“Just got to get rid of that little bit of sliding the nose when I hit the gas, but not bad,” Busch said.

Kyle Busch led the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Averages (159.336mph) and completed the most laps (60). Kevin Harvick (158.212mph), Austin Dillon (156.671mph) and Trevor Bayne (156.561mph) were the only other drivers to qualify in that category.

Joey Logano’s Ford was 12th quick (162.948mph) in single lap runs. Fellow Chasers Jamie McMurray (16th), Brad Keselowski (19th) and Kevin Harvick (20th) rounded out the top 20.

Of the remaining Chasers, Tony Stewart was 24th quick, followed by Kyle Busch (28th) and Chris Buescher (31st). Buescher currently sits in the Chase cellar 30 points behind 12th-place Larson.

Jeff Gordon was 17th (162.316mph) in his return to Dover. Gordon, who is subbing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. this week, last ran at Richmond.

"That was good in three and four," Gordon said after running in qualifying trim. "If I had to guess, I'd want it to turn a little bit better in (Turns) 1 and 2. It probably didn't help that I was up the race track and couldn't run the bottom.”

Several drivers asked their spotters for additional time coming off of pit road before making qualifying runs. Although the track had been dried prior to practice, pit road remained damp.

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph
1 42  Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 25 21.742     165.578
2 19  Carl Edwards  Toyota 21 21.802 0.060 0.060 165.122
3 20  Matt Kenseth  Toyota 22 21.848 0.106 0.046 164.775
4 31  Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 21 21.883 0.141 0.035 164.511
5 48  Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 28 21.911 0.169 0.028 164.301
6 24  Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 18 21.913 0.171 0.002 164.286
7 11  Denny Hamlin  Toyota 10 21.972 0.230 0.059 163.845
8 27  Paul Menard  Chevrolet 18 21.989 0.247 0.017 163.718
9 3  Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 27 21.991 0.249 0.002 163.703
10 78  Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 11 22.007 0.265 0.016 163.584

CLICK HERE for complete session results

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article McMurray: "The Chase hasn’t had the drama that it normally does"
Next article Qualifying rained out, Keselowski will start on pole at Dover

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global