NSCS: Kurt Busch Leads Auto Club 400 Practice as Edwards Goes to Back-Up Car

At the end of the first practice for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, it’d be Kurt Busch topping the charts with a lap of 38.566 seconds.

Busch made his return to the seat last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway with a top-five finish after sitting out the first three races due to a suspension from NASCAR with regards to legal issues off of the track. Busch would finish fifth in that event after contending for the win throughout the day.

Denny Hamlin was second quickest after missing this event last year due to debris in his eye, followed by Martin Truex Jr.

“The Furniture Row Chevrolet was good,” Truex commented. “We were fast at the beginning, but slowed down a bit as the track got warmer. We’ll go back through and see if we can make it better at the first run, and how we’ll stack up against everyone.”

Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-five, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Jeff Gordon and Danica Patrick.

“It felt pretty good in qualifying trim,” she said. “Obviously we’re a lot better than we have been here in the past. It was good coming to the green and through one and two, but it’s a little loose in turn three and four. It was pretty good, but this track is tough. Fontana is a tough track as you’re always focused in staying between the seams and hitting your line. It’s nice to have a good start to the weekend.”

Meanwhile, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards would each make contact with the wall during the practice. About a minute into the practice, Biffle got into the wall a little off of turn four, causing right side damage to his No. 16 Ford Fusion.

“We’re just not coming off the truck close as we need to be, and lost the nose and all the grip coming off the corner,” he commented. “Not a lot of contact, they have repaired the sheetmetal damage. We’re back to the drawing board in figuring out what the car wants.”

Edwards, meanwhile, would make contact with the wall with three minutes left. He would get loose off of turn four, try to save it, and cause the right front to make contact with the wall.

“We went from a 12-inch sub to a six-inch sub pretty quick,” he said. “I got a little loose off, and I tired to save it coming off, and I should’ve locked it down but didn’t.”