Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
He was quick all throughout last year finishing in the top-five multiple times. Now heading into his sophomore season, a lot of people expect Kyle Larson to hit victory lane soon. He would lead the first practice for the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a lap of 28.177 seconds.
“It’s really loose but it has a lot of speed in it each lap,” Larson commented early in the practice. “Going into one, it gets looser and looser so we worked on that and tried to get that out of the Target Chevy. I’m just happy with the speed that we have. About to switch into qualifying trim and see how it is.”
Jeff Gordon was second quickest, 0.062 seconds behind, as he looks to overcome two poor finishes to start his final full Sprint Cup Series season. Defending race winner Brad Keselwoski was third quickest, followed by David Ragan. Ragan is filling in for the injured Kyle Busch behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&Ms Camry. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five.
Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano was sixth quickest, followed by Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick.
Many drivers were fighting a loose condition throughout the practice, including Michael Annett who went for a spin 12 minutes into practice.
“Vegas has that really big bump over the tunnel in turn one and two, and it’s just about trying to hold on to steering wheel in that section,” Keselowski said. “The track has always been challenging there, but that’s part of the reason why the drivers like this track.”
The teams will qualify at 7:45 p.m. EST this evening, before a pair of practices on Saturday before Sunday’s race.
2015 NSCS Kobalt 400 First Practice Session Speeds
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Lap # | # Laps | -Fastest | -Next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Target Chevrolet | 28.177 | 191.646 | 18 | 18 | —.— | —.— |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | 3M Chevrolet | 28.239 | 191.225 | 11 | 11 | -0.062 | -0.062 |
| 3 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Ford | 28.267 | 191.035 | 9 | 11 | -0.09 | -0.028 |
| 4 | 18 | David Ragan | M&M’s Crispy Toyota | 28.276 | 190.975 | 15 | 15 | -0.099 | -0.009 |
| 5 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | CESSNA Chevrolet | 28.297 | 190.833 | 11 | 13 | -0.12 | -0.021 |
| 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Pennzoil Platinum Ford | 28.298 | 190.826 | 15 | 18 | -0.121 | -0.001 |
| 7 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Comcast Business Toyota | 28.313 | 190.725 | 11 | 13 | -0.136 | -0.015 |
| 8 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 28.332 | 190.597 | 9 | 11 | -0.155 | -0.019 |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Kobalt Tools Chevrolet | 28.338 | 190.557 | 8 | 8 | -0.161 | -0.006 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet | 28.339 | 190.55 | 15 | 15 | -0.162 | -0.001 |
| 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Office Toyota | 28.34 | 190.543 | 12 | 12 | -0.163 | -0.001 |
| 12 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | DeWalt Toyota | 28.377 | 190.295 | 12 | 12 | -0.2 | -0.037 |
| 13 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Time Warner Cable Chevrolet | 28.397 | 190.161 | 10 | 12 | -0.22 | -0.02 |
| 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Cheez-It Ford | 28.441 | 189.867 | 14 | 15 | -0.264 | -0.044 |
| 15 | 10 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy Chevrolet | 28.446 | 189.833 | 18 | 18 | -0.269 | -0.005 |
| 16 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Nationwide Chevrolet | 28.481 | 189.6 | 13 | 14 | -0.304 | -0.035 |
| 17 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 28.511 | 189.401 | 14 | 18 | -0.334 | -0.03 |
| 18 | 95 | Michael McDowell | KLOVE Radio Ford | 28.52 | 189.341 | 16 | 18 | -0.343 | -0.009 |
| 19 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Chevrolet | 28.524 | 189.314 | 16 | 16 | -0.347 | -0.004 |
| 20 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | 5-Hour Energy Toyota | 28.542 | 189.195 | 16 | 16 | -0.365 | -0.018 |
| 21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | DOW Energy & Water Chevrolet | 28.601 | 188.805 | 18 | 18 | -0.424 | -0.059 |
| 22 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Medallion Bank/Camping World Ford | 28.623 | 188.659 | 2 | 11 | -0.446 | -0.022 |
| 23 | 33 | Brian Scott(i) | Whitetail Chevrolet | 28.669 | 188.357 | 11 | 15 | -0.492 | -0.046 |
| 24 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Clorox Chevrolet | 28.68 | 188.285 | 16 | 17 | -0.503 | -0.011 |
| 25 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Chevrolet | 28.688 | 188.232 | 6 | 8 | -0.511 | -0.008 |
| 26 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt Chevrolet | 28.688 | 188.232 | 10 | 10 | -0.511 | 0 |
| 27 | 41 | Regan Smith(i) | Haas Automation Chevrolet | 28.689 | 188.225 | 12 | 15 | -0.512 | -0.001 |
| 28 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Nikko/Toy State Chevrolet | 28.754 | 187.8 | 6 | 8 | -0.577 | -0.065 |
| 29 | 27 | Paul Menard | Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet | 28.758 | 187.774 | 17 | 17 | -0.581 | -0.004 |
| 30 | 21 | Ryan Blaney(i) | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford | 28.817 | 187.389 | 16 | 16 | -0.64 | -0.059 |
| 31 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 28.839 | 187.246 | 9 | 12 | -0.662 | -0.022 |
| 32 | 46 | Michael Annett | Cypress Chevrolet | 28.852 | 187.162 | 11 | 14 | -0.675 | -0.013 |
| 33 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Aaron’s 60th Anniversary Dream Machine | 28.879 | 186.987 | 21 | 23 | -0.702 | -0.027 |
| 34 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Fastenal Ford | 28.941 | 186.587 | 10 | 12 | -0.764 | -0.062 |
| 35 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | AdvoCare Ford | 28.943 | 186.574 | 7 | 13 | -0.766 | -0.002 |
| 36 | 38 | David Gilliland | Love’s Travel Stops Ford | 28.961 | 186.458 | 7 | 8 | -0.784 | -0.018 |
| 37 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Shaw’s Southern Belle Seafood Ford | 28.967 | 186.419 | 9 | 11 | -0.79 | -0.006 |
| 38 | 98 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing Ford | 29.068 | 185.771 | 12 | 12 | -0.891 | -0.101 |
| 39 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Speed Stick Ford | 29.162 | 185.172 | 10 | 10 | -0.985 | -0.094 |
| 40 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan(i) | South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet | 29.229 | 184.748 | 8 | 8 | -1.052 | -0.067 |
| 41 | 29 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | 29.413 | 183.592 | 12 | 12 | -1.236 | -0.184 |
| 42 | 23 | JJ Yeley(i) | Dr. Pepper Toyota | 29.543 | 182.784 | 8 | 8 | -1.366 | -0.13 |
| 43 | 32 | Mike Bliss(i) | Draftdemons.com Ford | 29.687 | 181.898 | 7 | 12 | -1.51 | -0.144 |
| 44 | 26 | Jeb Burton # | MaximFantasySports.com Toyota | 29.696 | 181.843 | 14 | 20 | -1.519 | -0.009 |
| 45 | 44 | Travis Kvapil(i) | Phoenix Warehouse Chevrolet | 29.743 | 181.555 | 5 | 8 | -1.566 | -0.047 |
| 46 | 66 | Mike Wallace | RoyalTeakCollection.com Chevrolet | 29.962 | 180.228 | 5 | 8 | -1.785 | -0.219 |
| 47 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) | Carsforsale.com Chevrolet | 30.177 | 178.944 | 18 | 18 | -2 | -0.215 |
| 48 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Burger King Toyota | 30.254 | 178.489 | 8 | 10 | -2.077 | -0.077 |
(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie
* Required to Qualify on Time
RT @OnPitRoad_: NSCS: Kyle Larson Tops First Practice for Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by @ladybug388 http://t.co/uXz2FfuWlj