Practice report

NASCAR Cup Dover II

Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. lead Saturday morning practice at Dover

Kevin Harvick posted the fastest single-lap speed of 156.535mph (22.998-seconds) in second practice at Dover International Speedway on Saturday for the Apache Warrior 400.

Lee Spencer

Edited: Sep 30, 2017, 5:50 PM

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Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing, Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford

“We have a good Busch Ford Fusion,” said Harvick, who rolls off ninth on Sunday — the top Ford. “The car has been good. It was good in race trim and good in qualifying trim. Hopefully we can have a good day on Sunday.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second quick followed by Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10 quick laps.

Newman set the early pace in second practice with a lap o 155.871mph followed by Kasey Kahne, David Ragan, Matt Kenseth, Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Matt DiBenedetto, Corey LaJoie, Cole Whitt and Jeffrey Earnhardt.

In the first five minutes, Newman remained on top and improved his best lap to 155.932mph after three circuits. Kahne was second (155.608mph), Ragan, Kenseth, Logano (155.306mph), Hamlin (155.132mph), Almirola, Erik Jones and Danica Patrick.

The Stewart-Haas Racing duo of Kevin Harvick (156.535mph) and Kurt Busch (156.352mph) bumped Newman along with Earnhardt — who took-over P2 with a lap of 156.413mph. McMurray vaulted to fourth followed by Jones (156.121mph), Larson, Blaney, Suarez, Newman and Chase Elliott after the first 10 minutes.

Thirty-three drivers had completed laps when NASCAR released the 15-minute practice holds that included — Landon Cassill, Reed Sorenson and Brett Moffitt — for being late to qualifying inspection at Dover. Ross Chastain and BJ McLeod remained on pit road.

Jimmie Johnson sat out the first 19 minutes of practice before making his first lap. He posted the 20th fastest lap on his second lap — 155.086mph. Harvick remained atop the speed chart followed by Earnhardt, Kurt Busch, McMurray, Jones, Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Suarez and Newman.

After the first 25 minutes, 38 drivers had completed laps. The top 10 remained the same with Bowyer running 11th followed by Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Kahne, Keselowski, Ragan, Kenseth, Logano, Stenhouse and Johnson. Other playoff contenders included Martin Truex Jr., who was 23rd-quick after two laps and Austin Dillon, who was 25th.

Thirty-minutes into the 55-minute session, there were no changes to the top 10. With 15-minutes to go, Earnhardt’s 31 laps were the most completed and all 40 drivers had completed at least one run. Johnson had moved up to 19th quick with a top single-lap speed of 155.273mph. Truex fastest lap was 155.132mph — P21.

Nineteen drivers participated in Best 10 Consecutive Lap Averages with Kyle Busch taking the top spot with a run of 155.165 mph followed by McMurray (154.860mph), Bowyer (154.726mph), Kurt Busch (153.384mph), Kahne (153.202mph), Keselowski (153.076mph), Hamlin (152.940mph), Harvick (152.927mph), Suarez (152.783mph) and Stenhouse (152.671mph).

Cla#DriverManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalMph 1 4 united_states Kevin Harvick Ford 31 22.998 156.535 2 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 45 23.016 0.018 0.018 156.413 3 41 Kurt Busch Ford 47 23.025 0.027 0.009 156.352 4 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 57 23.055 0.057 0.030 156.148 5 77 Erik Jones Toyota 18 23.059 0.061 0.004 156.121 6 42 united_states Kyle Larson Chevrolet 24 23.064 0.066 0.005 156.087 7 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 38 23.069 0.071 0.005 156.054 8 21 Ryan Blaney Ford 38 23.071 0.073 0.002 156.040 9 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 45 23.074 0.076 0.003 156.020 10 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 40 23.087 0.089 0.013 155.932 11 14 united_states Clint Bowyer Ford 38 23.102 0.104 0.015 155.831 12 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 36 23.116 0.118 0.014 155.736 13 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 45 23.118 0.120 0.002 155.723 14 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota 34 23.132 0.134 0.014 155.629 15 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 40 23.134 0.136 0.002 155.615 16 2 united_states Brad Keselowski Ford 58 23.156 0.158 0.022 155.467 17 38 David Ragan Ford 36 23.165 0.167 0.009 155.407 18 22 Joey Logano Ford 35 23.180 0.182 0.015 155.306 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 35 23.185 0.187 0.005 155.273 20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 40 23.202 0.204 0.017 155.159 21 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 17 23.206 0.208 0.004 155.132 22 43 Aric Almirola Ford 24 23.226 0.228 0.020 154.999 23 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 24 23.284 0.286 0.058 154.613 24 10 Danica Patrick Ford 25 23.289 0.291 0.005 154.579 25 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 32 23.306 0.308 0.017 154.467 26 3 united_states Austin Dillon Chevrolet 47 23.325 0.327 0.019 154.341 27 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 38 23.336 0.338 0.011 154.268 28 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 23 23.364 0.366 0.028 154.083 29 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 30 23.402 0.404 0.038 153.833 30 95 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 26 23.410 0.412 0.008 153.780 31 34 united_states Landon Cassill Ford 31 23.411 0.413 0.001 153.774 32 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 22 23.731 0.733 0.320 151.700 33 23 Corey Lajoie Toyota 23 23.812 0.814 0.081 151.184 34 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 16 23.877 0.879 0.065 150.773 35 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 18 23.895 0.897 0.018 150.659 36 55 united_states Reed Sorenson Toyota 17 23.912 0.914 0.017 150.552 37 83 Brett Moffitt Toyota 29 24.060 1.062 0.148 149.626 38 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 32 24.159 1.161 0.099 149.013 39 66 Timmy Hill Chevrolet 5 24.430 1.432 0.271 147.360 40 51 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 8 24.795 1.797 0.365 145.191

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