Kyle Larson rode a strong No. 42 Chevrolet to the top of the board in each of Saturday’s two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practices at Chicagoland Speedway.
Larson’s early 29.460-second lap kept him atop the charts for the majority of final practice for Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400. Larson will try to replicate the speed in his first race as a Chase participant.
Rookie Chase Elliott followed Larson in second with a time of 29.527 second. Elliott will make his first Cup Series start at Chicagoland on Sunday. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch completed the top 5, with Joey Logano, Martin Truex, Jr., Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman rounding out the top 10.
Coverage for the Chase opener will begin on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. on NBCSN.
Practice 2: Kyle Larson ended the second practice session for Sunday’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 much like his races have for the last month – at the top.
Larson’s early 29.033-second lap around the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway was good enough to net the first-time Chase participant the top spot on the charts in Saturday’s first on-track activity.
Larson was one of seven Chase participants to fill the top 10. Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Carl Edwards and Martin Truex, Jr., rounded out the top 5, with Tony Stewart and Austin Dillon ending the session in seventh and ninth, respectively.
Chasers outside of the top 10 included Matt Kenseth, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch in 11th-13th, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Chris Buescher in 16th-18th, Jamie McMurray (21st), Denny Hamlin (23rd) and Brad Keselowski (25th).
Non-Chasers Kasey Kahne (6th), Alex Bowman (8th) and Ryan Blaney (10th) split the top playoff contenders up in the top 10,
The session ran caution-free without issue. All 40 cars participating in Sunday’s race made laps, with Ryan Newman running a session-high 47 laps.
The Cup Series will return for final practice at 1:30 p.m. ET.
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.