Practice report

NASCAR Cup Watkins Glen

Kyle Busch leads action-packed first practice at Watkins Glen

Fresh off of his win at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Busch continued his fast pace at Watkins Glen.

Lee Spencer

Edited: Aug 5, 2017, 5:33 PM

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Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Busch posted the fastest single-lap speed on the 2.45-mile road course in first practice on Saturday with a lap of 125.516mph.

Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Erik Jones, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 10 speeds.

Logano set the early pace on his first four-lap run but six minutes into the session, Dale Earnhardt Jr., spun followed by Corey LaJoie, who went off the track coming into the carousel (Turn 5). LaJoie hit the guard rail with a flat left rear tire. He had completed two laps.

Logano continued to lead the session followed by McMurray, Harvick, Allmendinger, Menard, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Elliott, Buescher and Kahne.

The track returned to green with 36 minutes remaining when Jimmie Johnson spun out and the right front went into rail entering Turn 1. Johnson had completed his first lap and was 32nd on the board.

Before the field could get rolling, Gary Klutt spun to trigger the red flag. The No. 15 had to be pushed off the 2.45-second circuit.

Practice resumed with 32-minutes remaining. Keselowski went to the top of the board with a lap of 123.736mph on his sixth lap. Michael McDowell (123.736mph) vaulted over the No. 2 Ford, then Logano regained the top spot with a lap of 123.920mph. Keselowski (124.103mph) leap-frogged over his teammate and was coming around Turn 5 when Danica Patrick spun sideways in front of him with 29 minutes on the clock.

Chase Elliott (123.897mph) was third followed by McDowell, McMurray, Bowyer, Truex, Kahne, Kurt Busch and Harvick rounded out the top-10 single-lap speeds 30-minutes in.

Johnson returned to the track with 25 minutes to go. He ran three laps and moved up to 17th with a top lap of 123.214mph.

“There is no grip in the car,” said 2014 Watkins Glen winner AJ Allmendinger. “I can’t touch the brakes without wheel hopping.” He was 22nd on the board with a lap of 122.946mph.

Kyle Busch took over the top spot with a lap of 124.866mph. Logano, Keselowski, Elliott, McMurray, McDowell, Harvick, Jones, Bowyer and Kenseth held onto the top 10 speeds with 15 minutes left in the session.

Hamlin moved up to second after his 10th lap with a speed of 124.546mph. Martin Truex Jr. (124.508mph) bumped Logano for third with 10-minutes remaining in first practice. On his next (ninth) lap, Truex advanced to P2 with a lap of 124.797mph. Busch’s ninth lap produced a single-lap speed of 125.516mph.

Kurt Busch spun coming into 1 and grazed the wall on his 12th lap. He was 14th-quick with a lap of 123.329mph.

Rookies Jones and Ty Dillon’s 17 laps were the most led during the 55-minute session.

Read Also:

Brad Keselowski tops final Cup practice at Watkins Glen

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 18 united_states Kyle Busch Toyota 15 70.270 125.516 2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 12 70.675 0.405 0.405 124.797 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 13 70.817 0.547 0.142 124.546 4 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 14 70.829 0.559 0.012 124.525 5 77 Erik Jones Toyota 17 70.862 0.592 0.033 124.467 6 2 united_states Brad Keselowski Ford 15 70.875 0.605 0.013 124.444 7 22 Joey Logano Ford 15 71.004 0.734 0.129 124.218 8 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 14 71.145 0.875 0.141 123.972 9 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 14 71.217 0.947 0.072 123.847 10 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 16 71.281 1.011 0.064 123.736 11 4 united_states Kevin Harvick Ford 15 71.302 1.032 0.021 123.699 12 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 11 71.307 1.037 0.005 123.691 13 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 11 71.467 1.197 0.160 123.414 14 41 Kurt Busch Ford 12 71.516 1.246 0.049 123.329 15 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 12 71.544 1.274 0.028 123.281 16 21 united_states Ryan Blaney Ford 15 71.556 1.286 0.012 123.260 17 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 15 71.566 1.296 0.010 123.243 18 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 11 71.571 1.301 0.005 123.234 19 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 13 71.587 1.317 0.016 123.207 20 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 10 71.674 1.404 0.087 123.057 21 10 united_states Danica Patrick Ford 11 71.715 1.445 0.041 122.987 22 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 14 71.738 1.468 0.023 122.947 23 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 14 71.739 1.469 0.001 122.946 24 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 16 71.745 1.475 0.006 122.935 25 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 12 71.778 1.508 0.033 122.879 26 88 united_states Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 12 71.935 1.665 0.157 122.611 27 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 17 72.120 1.850 0.185 122.296 28 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 15 72.140 1.870 0.020 122.262 29 38 David Ragan Ford 11 72.279 2.009 0.139 122.027 30 43 Aric Almirola Ford 11 72.358 2.088 0.079 121.894 31 72 united_states Cole Whitt Chevrolet 10 72.483 2.213 0.125 121.684 32 34 Landon Cassill Ford 19 72.865 2.595 0.382 121.046 33 33 Boris Said Chevrolet 5 73.076 2.806 0.211 120.696 34 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 4 73.821 3.551 0.745 119.478 35 15 canada Gary Klutt Chevrolet 9 73.951 3.681 0.130 119.268 36 23 united_states Corey Lajoie Toyota 2 74.119 3.849 0.168 118.998 37 83 Brett Moffitt Toyota 0.000 0.000

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