Blaney leads opening Kansas practice, Larson wrecks

Ryan Blaney led Friday’s NASCAR Cup practice from Kansas Speedway for Team Penske.

Blaney, who is fighting to escape elimination from the 2018 playoffs, led the way with a 192.130mph lap. Kyle Busch trailed him by just 0.053 seconds with another title contender in Kevin Harvick third, just 0.001 seconds slower than Busch.

All three seemed to focus on qualifying runs with Blaney and Busch running just five laps and Harvick running three. A.J. Allmendinger and Darrell Wallace Jr. ran the most laps at 13 each.

During the session, Jimmie Johnson had a bit of a moment that sent him up the hill in Turns 1 and 2, but he got away with it. Later on, Kyle Larson wasn’t so lucky. With 15 minutes to go, he started to lose the car while running the bottom line and slid up the track, slamming the wall and forcing the No. 42 team to a back-up car. 

“Just mad at myself … made a mistake, got loose. I cracked it (the throttle), but its like the second the time I cracked it, I don’t know if I got on the splitter or what but then it didn’t turn and went straight,” he told NBCSN.

“Hate it that I wrecked the primary car there. I’m sure our backup car will be fine … we’re always pretty good here at Kansas. Just dig deep and work hard and see what we can do on Sunday.”

Larson’s team was docked ten championship points earlier this week and finds themselves in a must-win situation entering Kansas.








































 

Take a virtual lap around Kansas Speedway, courtesy of NASCAR Heat 3:


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