The MENCS is set to take to the 1-mile oval for the first time this weekend. It’s the first practice session in Loudon, NH.
View full NHMS practice 1 times below.
It’s a short 50 minute session in the opening round of practice. This is pre-qualifying practice. Tomorrow, teams will focus on their race setups in a Saturday practice. Today, it’s all about setting the quickest time possible.
The track isn’t so active in the early minutes. The open wheel modifieds are running at NHMS as well. They use a different rubber. The big teams are waiting for that to be scraped off the track.
PJ1 has been applied to NHMS this weekend. They’ve used it on the inside and outside groove. The middle lane has been ignored.
35 minutes remain, Martin Truex Jr jumps to the top of the board. It’s short lived. Kyle Busch hits the track seconds later, he runs .4 seconds quicker. 133.77 mph average for Kyle Busch.
Toyota has led 1168 laps in the last 4 races at NHMS. Chevrolet has led 31 laps and Ford machines have led just 3 laps. Right now, all 3 manufactures are featured in the top 5 on the times sheet. Kyle Larson splits Busch and Truex on the sheet with just 20 minutes to go.
AJ Allmendinger and Jimmie Johnson are set to serve a penalty from last week. For the last 15 minutes of the session, they will sit parked following inspection issues at Kentucky Speedway.
David Ragan is in the wall in turn 3. Bubba Wallace also skated up the race track. Teams are saying there was fluid on the race track.
8 minutes remain, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr hit the track at the same time yet again. Busch improves his time. Truex runs near identical lap times to his earlier run.
Kyle Busch wins the opening round of practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway!
The next thing on the schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is qualifying. Teams will return to the track later this afternoon after NXS practice and qualifying.
View full NHMS practice times below.
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Practice 1 – July 20, 2018
Pos | Driver | Time
1. Kyle Busch
28.362
2. Kyle Larson
28.469
3. Denny Hamlin
28.475
4. Erik Jones
28.503
5. Ryan Blaney
28.537
6. Jimmie Johnson
28.562
7. Kevin Harvick
28.567
8. Alex Bowman
28.574
9. Martin Truex Jr
28.597
10. Kurt Busch
28.616
11. Brad Keselowski
28.630
12. Chase Elliott
28.635
13. Paul Menard
28.671
14. AJ Allmendinger
28.700
15. Joey Logano
28.720
16. Jamie McMurray
28.770
17. Aric Almirola
28.771
18. Clint Bowyer
28.782
19. Ryan Newman
28.800
20. William Byron
28.818
21. Bubba Wallace
28.874
22. Daniel Suarez
28.876
23. Austin Dillon
28.890
24. Kasey Kahne
29.045
25. Matt DiBenedetto
29.055
26. Chris Buescher
29.064
27. Ty Dillon
29.139
28. Matt Kenseth
29.153
29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
29.173
30. Michael McDowell
29.239
31. David Ragan
29.390
32. Ross Chastain
29.470
33. Landon Cassill
29.734
34. Corey LaJoie
30.198
35. BJ McLeod
30.200
36. Kyle Weatherman
30.268
37. Blake Jones
31.231
Links
New Hampshire Motor Speedway | NASCAR