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Busch leads the way in Cup finale practice at Phoenix
Kyle Busch paced the final NASCAR Cup Series practice of the season while Ryan Blaney was the fastest championship contender.
Busch led the way at 130.814mph (27.520s). He ran 61 laps in what was a traditional 50-minute practice session.
Bubba Wallace was second fastest (130.676mph), Blaney was third (130.425mph), Christopher Bell fourth (130.378mph) and Ross Chastain fifth (130.378mph).
Joey Logano was sixth (130.072mph), William Byron seventh (130.011mph). Tyler Reddick eighth (130.011mph), Ty Gibbs ninth (129.959) and Brad Keselowski 10th (129.847mph).
Logano is the defending race winner.
Kyle Larson was the lowest playoff driver in practice -- 11th fastest on the overall speed chart (129.847mph).
Wallace ran the most laps of any driver at 69.
Busch suffered some damage after laying down the quickest lap, and the team is working over the left-rear quarter panel. Off Turn 4, Busch was slower against the outside wall than AJ Allmendinger behind him. Allmendinger hit Busch and then spun. The No. 16 suffered damage to the right front.
In the best 10 consecutive lap average, it was Bell over Blaney, Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Busch.
NEXT: Cup Series qualifying at 4:35 p.m. ET Saturday.
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
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