NSCS: Kyle Larson Tops First Practice for Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

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

(i) Ineligible for Driver Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie
* Required to Qualify on Time