Just passed halfway in Saturday’s final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Watkins Glen International, Brad Keselowski jumped to the top spot, posting a lap of 125.880 mph, narrowly edging out Kurt Busch (125.862 mph).
Keselowski turned 16 circuits, tied for the second most in the 55-minute session. In seven career starts at WGI, the driver of the No. 2 car has an average finish of 10.1 with three runner-up finishes.
Late in the session Martin Truex Jr. turned the third quickest time (125.598 mph) with Clint Bowyer (125.367 mph) and Denny Hamlin (125.281 mph) rounding out the top five.
Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Kyle Busch filled out the remainder of the top 10.
2014 winner AJ Allmendinger was mired down in 16th on the board, while Brickyard 400 champion Kasey Kahne was 19th, after turning 17 laps, the most of the 36 drivers who made a lap.
Boris Said, making his final Cup Series start clipped the grass going through the bus stop, tearing off the front splitter as well as much of the front end of the No. 33 machine. Said was last on the speed chart, and is heading to a backup car.
Backup car for Boris Said. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/kjsgkjhD1v
— Dustin Albino (el-bee-no) (@DustinAlbino) August 5, 2017
Corey LaJoie was the only one of the 37 drivers who failed to turn a lap after spinning into the guardrail during the opening practice. While final practice was underway, the 25-year-old was helping repair the BK Racing machine.
.@CoreyLaJoie helping repair the @BKRacing_2383 No. 23 car. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/eU9y0Pzd0X
— Dustin Albino (el-bee-no) (@DustinAlbino) August 5, 2017
Qualifying for the I Love New York 355 at the Glen is scheduled to get underway at 12:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. There will be a new pole winner, as Carl Edwards began from the front last season.
View full final practice results from Watkins Glen International
Dustin joined the Frontstretch team at the beginning of the 2016 season. 2020 marks his sixth full-time season covering the sport that he grew up loving. His dream was to one day be a NASCAR journalist, thus why he attended Ithaca College (Class of 2018) to earn a journalism degree. Since the ripe age of four, he knew he wanted to be a storyteller.