Rate this article:
Victory By Design: Ferrari DVD
Alain de Cadenet, a long-time Ferrari enthusiast and aficionado, drives some of the great sports racers and sports cars.
Our Price: $24.95
Racer Magazine - Subscribe Now
Get all of the inside information from America's Premiere Motorsports Magazine
Our Price: $29.95
SPEED Khaki Sandwich Bill Cap
Washed chino twill, constructed mid crown w/ pre-curved sandwich visor.
Our Price: $14.00 ON SALE!
Kyle Busch was quickest in the first practice session for the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos
NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch continues to grab the headlines at virtually every track this season. Thursday afternoon, the 23-year-old Las Vegas native topped the speed charts at the newly repaved Darlington Raceway in the first round of practice for Saturday’s Dodge Challenger 500.
Busch put a hurting on the field at the 1.366-mile track as Toyotas dominated the first of two extra practice rounds to let drivers cut accustomed to the newly repaved and vastly faster Darlington track.
With a top speed of 174.948 miles per hour, Busch’s speed in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was nearly six miles per hour faster than Kasey Kahne’s 169.013 mph pole dash last year. In fact, Kahne’s pole speed from last year would have been only 42nd today.
Right behind the points leader was his teammate, Denny Hamlin, who ran 174.885 in a second JGR Toyota. Then it was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who wheeled his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to third at 174.780 mph.
Fourth was the Yates Racing Ford of Travis Kvapil, who like Earnhardt was sporting a retro pain scheme. His best lap was 174.724 mph.
Tony Stewart made it three JGR Toyotas in the top five, as he ran 174.229 mph.
The second five consisted of Greg Biffle, Joe Nemechek, Dave Blaney, Casey Mears and AJ Allmendinger. But the session clearly belonged to Busch, as so much of the year has.
“We’ve had some great runs,” said Busch earlier this week during a test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “We’ve had some strong runs. We’ve had some good cars. And so, fortunately we were able to capitalize on those most of this year and hopefully we can keep doing that throughout the year.”
And he’s hoping
So far, so good for Busch.
There will be three additional practice rounds, tonight from 7-8 p.m. and Friday from noon to 1:30 p.m. and 2-3 p.m. SPEED will televise Friday’s practice sessions.
CROWN ROYAL 400 PRACTICE RESULTS
Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to
SPEED will televise the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXIV and the NASCAR Sprint Showdown live on May 17, as well as provide more than 90 hours of support programming prior to the event. Stay tuned to SPEEDtv.com for frequent updates on the history of the event and all the details about this year’s action.
Watch and Win!
View All Comments
- Press Releases | Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | FOXReality | National Geographic - © Copyright 2008 Speed Channel, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
