Kyle Larson leads first NASCAR Cup practice at Richmond

Larson, who won at Richmond in fall 2017, posted an average lap speed of 121.704 mph early in the session that stood the entire 55-minute practice.

Denny Hamlin (121.682 mph) was second and Chris Buescher was third (121.638 mph). Kyle Busch, looking for his third consecutive win at Richmond, was fourth and David Ragan completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top 10 were Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano.

There were no on-track incidents during the session.

Four drivers – Ryan Newman, Ragan, Larson and Jeb Burton – had to sit out the final 15 minutes of the session as all four teams were late to pre-race inspection last weekend at Bristol, Tenn.

Harvick missed the final 30 minutes of the session as his No. 4 Ford failed pre-race inspection three times last weekend.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	25	22.185			121.704
2	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	43	22.189	0.004	0.004	121.682
3	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	42	22.197	0.012	0.008	121.638
4	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	55	22.202	0.017	0.005	121.611
5	38	David Ragan		Ford	33	22.219	0.034	0.017	121.518
6	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	41	22.224	0.039	0.005	121.490
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	29	22.232	0.047	0.008	121.447
8	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	42	22.246	0.061	0.014	121.370
9	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	28	22.260	0.075	0.014	121.294
10	22	Joey Logano		Ford	44	22.274	0.089	0.014	121.218
11	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	45	22.285	0.100	0.011	121.158
12	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	51	22.366	0.181	0.081	120.719
13	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	49	22.372	0.187	0.006	120.687
14	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	37	22.395	0.210	0.023	120.563
15	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	41	22.420	0.235	0.025	120.428
16	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	58	22.433	0.248	0.013	120.358
17	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	37	22.441	0.256	0.008	120.315
18	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	51	22.453	0.268	0.012	120.251
19	21	Paul Menard		Ford	49	22.454	0.269	0.001	120.246
20	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	55	22.460	0.275	0.006	120.214
21	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	42	22.464	0.279	0.004	120.192
22	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	49	22.470	0.285	0.006	120.160
23	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	53	22.473	0.288	0.003	120.144
24	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	68	22.484	0.299	0.011	120.085
25	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	44	22.538	0.353	0.054	119.798
26	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	59	22.538	0.353	0.000	119.798
27	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	28	22.551	0.366	0.013	119.729
28	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	49	22.644	0.459	0.093	119.237
29	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	39	22.649	0.464	0.005	119.211
30	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	48	22.674	0.489	0.025	119.079
31	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	38	22.698	0.513	0.024	118.953
32	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	34	22.719	0.534	0.021	118.843
33	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	25	22.912	0.727	0.193	117.842
34	51	Jeb Burton		Chevrolet	16	23.153	0.968	0.241	116.616
35	52	Bayley Currey		Ford	15	23.192	1.007	0.039	116.419
36	66	Joey Gase		Toyota	13	23.535	1.350	0.343	114.723
37	77	Quin Houff		Chevrolet	44	23.568	1.383	0.033	114.562