Race Weekend Central

Denny Hamlin Leads as Downpour Halts Sprint Cup Practice in Kentucky

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.

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.

Results, via NASCAR

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.

About the author

A graduate of Ball State, Aaron rejoins Frontstretch for his second season in 2016 following a successful year that included covering seven races and starting the popular "Two-Headed Monster" column in 2015. Now in his third year of covering motorsports, Aaron serves as an Assistant Editor for Frontstretch while also contributing to other popular sites including Speed51 and The Apex. He encourages you to come say hi when you see him at the track.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share via