For the second-straight year, heavy rains have arrived at Kentucky Speedway.
With lightning approaching, Friday’s second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice was red-flagged after a little over 30 minutes to allow teams and fans to take shelter.
15 minutes later, rain arrived.
Current situation: pic.twitter.com/msa4U7gMFf
— Kentucky Speedway (@KySpeedway) July 8, 2016
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHmy78Ljebt/?taken-by=aaronbearden93
Denny Hamlin proved the fastest in the shortened session, with an average speed of 188.282 mph on his quickest circuit. Jimmie Johnson followed in second with a speed of 188.121 mph, but the six-time champion will move to a backup car after crashing just before the rains arrived.
Kevin Harvick, Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson completed the top five, with Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. rounding out the top 10.
The next planned on-track activity at Kentucky Speedway is final practice for the Sprint Cup Series, scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.
NASCAR will also hold a five-minute period of silence from 1-1:05 p.m. ET, honoring the victims of Thursday’s shootings in Dallas.
Aaron Bearden is a Frontstretch alumnus who’s come back home as the site’s Short Track Editor. When he isn’t working with our grassroots writers, he can be found talking about racing on his Morning Warmup newsletter, pestering his wife/dog or convincing himself the Indiana Pacers can win an NBA title.