Race Weekend Central

Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr. Pace Saturday Sprint Cup Practices

NASCAR Sprint Cup teams had two chances to get it right Saturday with a pair of practice sessions for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race of the season.

Kurt Busch paced the morning edition with a top speed of 191.002 mph.  Jimmie Johnson, whose seven Charlotte wins rank as most by a driver in track history, was second on the speed charts, with Martin Truex, Jr., defending race winner Carl Edwards, and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. completing the top 5.  Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10.

The second and final practice session of the day featured a hotter, slicker track, and it was polesitter Truex, Jr., who led the most laps in last year’s Coca-Cola 600 only to fall victim to fuel mileage, who bested Kurt Busch and Johnson, who slotted in second and third, respectively. Also posting top-5 times were All-Star Race winner Joey Logano and Greg Biffle.

The rest of the top 10 in final practice included Stenhouse, former Coca-Cola 600 winners Casey Mears and Matt Kenseth, along with Paul Menard and Blaney.

Truex will lead the field to green Sunday night.

About the author

Amy is an 20-year veteran NASCAR writer and a six-time National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) writing award winner, including first place awards for both columns and race coverage. As well as serving as Photo Editor, Amy writes The Big 6 (Mondays) after every NASCAR Cup Series race. She can also be found working on her bi-weekly columns Holding A Pretty Wheel (Tuesdays) and Only Yesterday (Wednesdays). A New Hampshire native whose heart is in North Carolina, Amy’s work credits have extended everywhere from driver Kenny Wallace’s website to Athlon Sports. She can also be heard weekly as a panelist on the Hard Left Turn podcast that can be found on AccessWDUN.com's Around the Track page.

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