CUP: Busch Stays On Top

Sprint Cup

CUP: Busch Stays On Top

Kyle Busch was fastest in Happy Hour on Saturday…

Tom Jensen | Posted November 10, 2012 Avondale, AZ

Kyle Busch, driver of the No.18 M&M's Toyota, climbs out of his car on the grid after qualifying for the pole position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AdvoCare 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Pole-sitter Kyle Busch continued to show great pace at Phoenix International Raceway, as he was fastest in Saturday’s final Happy Hour round of practice for tomorrow’s AdvoCare 500.

Busch, who claimed the pole on Friday, had a best lap of 135.252 miles per hour in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, good enough to put him on top of the board in the last dress rehearsal before Sunday’s main event. Busch was also fastest in the opening practice.

Kasey Kahne was second in the first of the four Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets, running 135.166 mph, He was followed by Joey Logano in a second JGR Toyota, 135.003 mph. Aric Almirola was fourth at 134.956 mph in the No. 43 Ford out of the Richard Petty Motorsports stable. Four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon completed the top five.

With eight races down in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Jimmie Johnson comes into the race with a lead of 7 points over Brad Keselowski.

But as he has been all weekend, Keselowski continued to show a slight speed advantage during the session, as he was ninth, while Johnson was 11th.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.

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