Kyle Busch won this race from the pole a season ago in dominating fashion, leading 190 of 200 laps. He carried that momentum into opening XFINITY Series practice on Friday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a time of 128.667 mph, .052 seconds ahead of the field.
Matt Tifft was the fastest XFINITY regular, posting the second fastest lap time late in the session, with a speed of 128.441 mph. This is his first time competing at the magic mile.
Spencer Gallagher (128.359 mph), Daniel Hemric (128.337 mph) and Brad Keselowski (128.303 mph) rounded out the top five.
Justin Allgaier, Kyle Larson, Cole Custer, William Byron and Brennan Poole filled the top 10.
Championship leader, Elliott Sadler was 13th fastest at 127.231 mph, more than three-tenths of a second off Busch’s pace. Last season, the No. 1 team came home 10th after starting sixth.
Drivers head back out for final practice at 3 p.m ET Friday, and then 11:05 a.m. ET Saturday for qualifying. The pole-sitter has won the last five races at New Hampshire.
Tifft ran 33 laps, the most of all drivers, while Ben Kennedy, competing for Richard Childress Racing had the best 10-lap average at 125.756 mph. Only six drivers posted a time of 10 laps.
Full results from opening XFINITY Series practice at New Hampshire