NSCS: Kyle Busch Tops Sprint All-Star Race Practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway

After missing the first 11 races of the Sprint Cup Series schedule, Kyle Busch is making his return this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 18 Camry and topped the charts in the first practice.

Busch missed the first 11 races as a result of an injury suffered in the season-opener for the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Daytona International Speedway. Busch topped the charts with a lap of 28.589 seconds as he looks for his first career Sprint All-Star race victory.

Defending race winner Jamie McMurray was second quickest, followed by Kevin Harvick; Harvick finished runner-up in this event a year ago. Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Penske teammate Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski were sixth and seventh, followed by Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.

Following the session, the drivers practiced their approach to pit road. The Sprint All-Star race qualifying format features four laps, with a pit stop in the middle that will include no pit road speed limit. During practice, drivers were hitting pit road at approximately 150 mph.

POS	DRIVER	LAPS	FAST SPEED	FAST TIME	BEHIND
1	^#18 Kyle Busch	45	188.884	28.589	Leader
2	^#1 Jamie McMurray	39	188.396	28.663	0.074
3	^#4 Kevin Harvick	34	188.258	28.684	0.095
4	^#41 Kurt Busch	41	188.121	28.705	0.116
5	^#11 Denny Hamlin	48	187.696	28.770	0.181
6	^#22 Joey Logano	53	187.467	28.805	0.216
7	^#2 Brad Keselowski	45	187.240	28.840	0.251
8	^#5 Kasey Kahne	56	187.143	28.855	0.266
9	^#14 Tony Stewart	47	186.606	28.938	0.349
10	^#20 Matt Kenseth	40	186.445	28.963	0.374
11	^#43 Aric Almirola	25	186.380	28.973	0.384
12	^#88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.	42	185.880	29.051	0.462
13	^#19 Carl Edwards	30	185.835	29.058	0.469
14	^#48 Jimmie Johnson	50	185.829	29.059	0.470
15	^#47 AJ Allmendinger	36	185.675	29.083	0.494
16	^#24 Jeff Gordon	52	185.510	29.109	0.520
17	^#31 Ryan Newman	43	185.433	29.121	0.532