Kenseth, Logano top final Sprint Cup practice; Tony Stewart 18th-fastest - MotorSportsTalk

HAMPTON, Ga. – Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano put the Happy in Happy Hour Saturday evening at Atlanta Motor Speedway, setting the top speeds in the final tuneup for Sunday’s Oral-B USA 500.

Kenseth topped the 43 drivers that took laps with a speed of 188.251 mph, followed by Logano at 187.869 mph.

Kenseth, who won a series-high seven races last season, is still looking for his first win of 2014.

Logano, meanwhile, is still riding the momentum from his win last Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Denny Hamlin was third-fastest (187.114 mph), followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon (186.956) and Jimmie Johnson (186.855).

Sixth- through 10th-fastest were Kyle Larson (186.761), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (186.190), Carl Edwards (186.028), Brad Keselowski (185.834) and Kyle Busch (185.791), who made a significant gain after being 22nd-fastest in the earlier practice in the day.

Marcos Ambrose was 11th-fastest (185.449), followed by Austin Dillon (185.430), Greg Biffle (185.412), Martin Truex Jr. (185.189) and Aric Almirola (185.139).

Brian Vickers was 16th-fastest (185.127), followed by Ryan Newman (184.806), Tony Stewart (184.720), Paul Menard (184.542) and Jamie McMurray (184.480).

Stewart is back to racing after missing the last three events (Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol) due to the Kevin Ward Jr. tragedy.

Other notables included:

Kasey Kahne was 21st-fastest (184.407), followed by three Stewart-Haas racing teammates all in a row: Kurt Busch (184.131), Kevin Harvick (183.473) and Danica Patrick (183.339).

Ty Dillon, who will make his first career Sprint Cup start on Sunday, was 28th-fastest (182.362).

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A late race caution set up a 14-lap shootout at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois with Kyle Larson winning his second consecutive High Limit Sprint Car Series race over Rico Abreu.

Starting eight on the grid after a disappointing pole dash, Larson missed several major incidents as he worked his way to the front. On Lap 1 of 35, a five-car accident claimed Tyler Courtney and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid, who both took a tumble and before collecting three other cars. Once that red flag was lifted, it didn’t take long for drivers to get tangled again as the leader Danny Dietrich experienced engine trouble on Lap 8. When he slowed rapidly, second-place Brent Marks collided with his back tire, ending the day for both.

Larson moved up to fourth with this incident.

Another red flag on Lap 21 for a flip involving Parker Price-Miller set up the dash for the win.

“My car felt really good and then we got that red,” Larson said from victory lane. “I was kind of running through the crumbs before that in 3 and 4; I could tell the top was getting really sketchy. Parker was making mistakes up there.

“When the red came out, I could see there was a clean lane of grip – not just marbles. It’s hard to see when you’re at speed. I figured Rico was going to run the top and he did. I got to his inside a couple of times and I was like ‘please don’t go to the bottom,’ and I threw a slider on him. Then he went to the bottom and I thought I was screwed until he spun his tires really bad off the corner and I was able to hit the top okay and get another run and slide him. I got good grip off the cushion.”

The victory makes Larson the first repeat winner in the series’ five-race history. He beat Justin Sanders earlier this month at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio.

With 10 laps remaining, Larson caught and pressured Abreu. The two threw a series of sliders at one another until Abreu bobbled on the cushion and lost momentum.

“Anytime you race Rico and he’s on the wall like that, you have to get aggressive,” Larson said. “He’s pushing so hard that just to stay in the striking zone if he makes a mistake, you have to push hard too.”

For Abreu, it was his second near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps.

“I felt like I made a lot of mistakes at the end,” Abreu said. “It’s just hard to judge race pace. You’ve got Kyle behind you and [Anthony] Macri and these guys that have had speed all year long. I was racing as hard as I could and the mistake factor is more and more critical.”

Cory Eliason earned his career-best High Limit finish of third after starting deep in the field in 13th.

Macri lost one position during the race to finish fourth with Sam Hafertepe, Jr. rounding out the top five.

Visiting from the NASCAR Cup series, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 19th in the 25-car field after advancing from the B-Main.

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway

Hitting the road. 👋🏼

Safe travels to all the racers this weekend — we’ve got teams heading for Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and all over.

The High Limit Sprint Car Series will be back in 6️⃣ days for a $28,023/Win, $1,500/Start show at Nebraska’s @EagleRaceway on Tues, June 6. pic.twitter.com/YhBa3vGoMD

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 1, 2023

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