Coming off his victory last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team showed the rest of the field that they mean business.
Busch was fastest in the first of two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions on Saturday at Watkins Glen International. He turned a lap of 125.516 mph (70.636 seconds) in his No. 18 M&M’s Caramel Camry.
Busch’s lap was close to four-tenths faster than Martin Truex Jr.‘s of 124.797 mph (70.675 seconds), who ended up second on the speed charts. The No. 18 car turned 15 laps, tied for the third-most out of the top-10 fastest drivers. Truex Jr.’s No. 78 turned 12.
Denny Hamlin (124.546 mph), who is looking to go back-to-back, as he won this event one year ago, finished third on the speed charts, followed by Jamie McMurray (124.525 mph) and Erik Jones (124.467 mph) rounding out the top five.
Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kasey Kahne and Michael McDowell filled the top 10 when the session concluded.
The temperatures were in the mid-60’s and it was only a 55-minute session, which ramped up the intensity a little bit. And the drivers on track were pushing it to the limit.
There were a total of five spins. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., as well as Kurt Busch, all spun coming out of Turn 1. The No. 41 car sustained some left front damage after getting into the guardrail.
Danica Patrick joined the spin party and Corey LaJoie also spun out during the session, resulting in some left rear damage to the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota.
Damage to the rear of @CoreyLaJoie. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/nl6WD3CkYJ
— Dustin Albino (el-bee-no) (@DustinAlbino) August 5, 2017
Final practice is scheduled to take place at 12:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying for the I Love NY 355 at The Glen is scheduled to take place on Sunday morning at 12:05 p.m. ET with the race going green at approximately 3:18 p.m. ET. Hamlin is the defending winner of the event.
Full results from the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice from Watkins Glen
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