It’s become normal to see Kyle Busch’s name atop the leader board whenever he decides to run in NASCAR’s XFINITY or Camping World Truck Series. Although his time behind the wheel of those machines has dwindled with the new rules limiting Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competitors joining in on the fun in the lower tier series, it hasn’t slowed him down one bit.
Running the fastest average lap speed in Camping World Truck Series practice from Kentucky Speedway at nearly 181 mph, it wasn’t for lack of competition as Christopher Bell in his own KBM Toyota was only 0.016 seconds off Busch’s pace. Kaz Grala, the surprise winner at Daytona slotted into third place in the final running order only 0.033 seconds off Busch’s pace.
Each of the top three drivers ran over 40 laps during the session as 32 drivers took to the Speedway to setup for the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225, which will take place tomorrow night at 7:30 pm on Fox Sports 1.
The most worrying moment of the session took place when Chase Briscoe’s No. 29 Cooper Standard Ford F-150 fielded by Brad Keselowski, blew a tire entering the corner and slammed the SAFER Barrier. Briscoe later commented through twitter saying it was the “Hardest hit of my life.”
Briscoe’s team will be forced to start from the rear of the field on Thursday evening as they were forced to a backup truck.
Other notables included Matt Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Toyota and Johnny Sauter’s No. 21 Allegiant Airlines Chevy in fourth and fifth respectively, along with John Hunter Nemecheck in tenth overall.
Complete practice results are available here: http://www.nascar.com/en_us/race-center/2017/camping-world-truck-series/buckle-up-in-your-truck-225.practice2.html