Results from final Sprint Cup practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
By Tom Jensen
The preliminaries have all been completed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where on Sunday, 39 drivers will roll off for the Kobalt 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (FOX, 3 p.m. ET).
In Saturday afternoon’s final Happy Hour practice session, once again the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas set the pace, with Matt Kenseth (189.460 miles per hour) and Carl Edwards (188.851 mph) atop the leader board.
Both should be legitimate threats to win on Sunday. Kenseth is a three-time winner here, with the most laps led and the best average finish of any driver in the field. Likewise, Edwards is a two-time Vegas winner and was fastest in the opening round of practice Saturday morning.
But the JGR squad will face some tough competition.
Las Vegas native Kurt Busch, who won the pole on Friday, was third in Happy Hour, turning a best lap of 188.706 mph in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.
Completing the top five were Paul Menard and Ryan Newman, with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. right behind them.
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | SPONSOR | BEST SPEED | BEST TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Matt Kenseth |
| DeWalt | 189.460 | 28.502 | Leader |
| 2 | 19 | Carl Edwards |
| Arris | 188.851 | 28.594 | --0.092 |
| 3 | 41 | Kurt Busch |
| Monster Energy / Haas Automation | 188.706 | 28.616 | --0.114 |
| 4 | 27 | Paul Menard |
| Dutch Boy / Menards | 188.679 | 28.620 | --0.118 |
| 5 | 31 | Ryan Newman |
| Caterpillar | 188.547 | 28.640 | --0.138 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
| Kobalt | 188.344 | 28.671 | --0.169 |
| 7 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr |
| Nationwide | 188.304 | 28.677 | --0.175 |
| 8 | 13 | Casey Mears |
| GEICO | 188.291 | 28.679 | --0.177 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin |
| FedEx Office | 188.199 | 28.693 | --0.191 |
| 10 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr |
| Furniture Row | 188.180 | 28.696 | --0.194 |
| 11 | 3 | Austin Dillon |
| Dow - Energy & Water / Intellifresh | 188.173 | 28.697 | --0.195 |
| 12 | *21 | Ryan Blaney |
| Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center | 188.075 | 28.712 | --0.210 |
| 13 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr |
| Fastenal Ford Fusion | 188.029 | 28.719 | --0.217 |
| 14 | 18 | Kyle Busch |
| M&M's 75 | 188.022 | 28.720 | --0.218 |
| 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski |
| Miller Lite | 187.996 | 28.724 | --0.222 |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray |
| CESSNA | 187.957 | 28.730 | --0.228 |
| 17 | 22 | Joey Logano |
| Shell Pennzoil | 187.637 | 28.779 | --0.277 |
| 18 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger |
| Smith’s / Kingsford | 187.578 | 28.788 | --0.286 |
| 19 | 5 | Kasey Kahne |
| Farmers Insurance | 187.409 | 28.814 | --0.312 |
| 20 | 24 | Chase Elliott |
| NAPA Auto Parts | 187.402 | 28.815 | --0.313 |
| 21 | 42 | Kyle Larson |
| Target | 187.097 | 28.862 | --0.360 |
| 22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick |
| Jimmy John's | 186.890 | 28.894 | --0.392 |
| 23 | 16 | Greg Biffle |
| Cheez-It Ford Fusion | 186.825 | 28.904 | --0.402 |
| 24 | 6 | Trevor Bayne |
| Advocare Ford Fusion | 186.554 | 28.946 | --0.444 |
| 25 | 34 | Chris Buescher |
| Love’s Travel Stops | 186.451 | 28.962 | --0.460 |
| 26 | 14 | Brian Vickers |
| Mobil 1 | 186.310 | 28.984 | --0.482 |
| 27 | 10 | Danica Patrick |
| Nature's Bakery | 186.278 | 28.989 | --0.487 |
| 28 | 43 | Aric Almirola |
| Smithfield | 186.194 | 29.002 | --0.500 |
| 29 | 44 | Brian Scott |
| Albertsons Co. / White Tail | 185.867 | 29.053 | --0.551 |
| 30 | 38 | Landon Cassill |
| MDS Transport | 185.522 | 29.107 | --0.605 |
| 31 | 23 | David Ragan |
| Dr. Pepper | 184.729 | 29.232 | --0.730 |
| 32 | 7 | Regan Smith |
| Road Rippers Street Beatz Chevrolet | 184.723 | 29.233 | --0.731 |
| 33 | 15 | Clint Bowyer |
| 5-Hour Energy | 184.451 | 29.276 | --0.774 |
| 34 | 95 | Michael McDowell |
| WRL General Contractors | 183.936 | 29.358 | --0.856 |
| 35 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto |
| Cosmo Motors | 183.020 | 29.505 | --1.003 |
| 36 | 46 | Michael Annett |
| Pilot Flying J | 181.476 | 29.756 | --1.254 |
| 37 | *98 | Cole Whitt |
| Speed Stick Chevy | 181.232 | 29.796 | --1.294 |
| 38 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt |
| Can - Am | 180.995 | 29.835 | --1.333 |
| 39 | *30 | Josh Wise |
| Curtis Key Plumbing | 180.524 | 29.913 | --1.411 |
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