The Kyle show: Busch fastest, Larson next in Cup Happy Hour at 'Dega - MotorSportsTalk

It was the Kyle and Kyle show in Friday afternoon’s final Sprint Cup practice for Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Or maybe we should call it a half-practice, as only 21 drivers took part in Happy Hour.

The speeds were significantly slower than the morning practice – by more than 5 mph – when Clint Bowyer topped the field at 200.385 mph.

MORE: Clint Bowyer leads first Sprint Cup practice at Talladega

As for the afternoon practice, Kyle Busch was the fastest at 195.205 mph, followed by rookie Kyle Larson (195.118 mph).

Two other drivers surpassed 195 mph: Kasey Kahne (195.106) and Jeff Gordon 195.015).

Because of the small field, there were surprising speed performances from several drivers: Casey Mears was fifth-fastest (194.983), as well as Reed Sorenson (194.856), Denny Hamlin (194.393), Joe Nemechek (194.176), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (194.082) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (192.827).

The rest of the field was:

11 Justin Allgaier 192.820 mph

12 Ryan Blaney 192.816

13 Josh Wise 191.804

14 Matt Kenseth 191.562

15 Jimmie Johnson 189.947

16 Mike Wallace 189.936

17 Brad Keselowski 189.684

18 Danica Patrick 189.193

19 Michael Annett 188.159

20 Greg Biffle 187.964

21 Joey Logano 160.510

Logano made only one lap, so his speed is not too concerning.

But Johnson’s speed is. The defending and six-time Sprint Cup champ is in a must-win situation Sunday to advance to the Eliminator Round.

Of course, also in must-win situations are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth.

Follow me @JerryBonkowski

DETROIT — Alex Palou topped the results of an NTT IndyCar Series race for the second time this season, extending his championship points lead with his victory in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who also won the GMR Grand Prix (and the Indy 500 pole position) last month, holds a 51-point lead over teammate Marcus Ericsson (ninth at Detroit) through seven of 17 races this season.

Ganassi, which placed all four of its drivers in the top 10 at Detroit, has three of the top four in the championship standings with Scott Dixon ranked fourth after a fourth at Detroit.

FLAVOR FLAV POWERS UP: Iconic rapper hangs out with Team Penske

Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden is third in the standings after taking a 10th at Detroit. Pato O’Ward slipped to fifth in the points after crashing and finishing 26th

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:

RESULTS

Click here for the official box score from the 100-lap race on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile street course in downtown Detroit.

Here is the finishing order in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 100, Running
2. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
3. (9) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 100, Running
4. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
5. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 100, Running
6. (12) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 100, Running
7. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 100, Running
8. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 100, Running
9. (6) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
10. (5) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 100, Running
11. (24) Colton Herta, Honda, 100, Running
12. (17) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 100, Running
13. (8) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 100, Running
14. (20) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 100, Running
15. (15) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 100, Running
16. (18) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 100, Running
17. (25) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
18. (14) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
19. (23) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 100, Running
20. (19) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 97, Running
21. (22) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 97, Running
22. (26) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 97, Running
23. (21) David Malukas, Honda, 85, Contact
24. (3) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 80, Contact
25. (27) Graham Rahal, Honda, 50, Contact
26. (10) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 41, Contact
27. (16) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 1, Contact

Winner’s average speed: 80.922 mph; Time of Race: 02:01:58.1171; Margin of victory: 1.1843 seconds; Cautions: 7 for 32 laps; Lead changes: 10 among seven drivers. Lap Leaders: Palou 1-28; Power 29-33; O’Ward 34; Palou 35-55; Power 56-64; Palou 65; Rossi 66; Newgarden 67-68; Kirkwood 69; Ericsson 70-76; Palou 77-100.

POINTS

Click here for the points tally in the race.

Here are the points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:

Top 10 in points: Palou 273, Ericsson 222, Newgarden 203, Dixon 194, O’Ward 191, Rossi 176, McLaughlin 175, Power 172, Herta 149, Rosenqvist 148.

Rest of the standings: Grosjean 145, Kirkwood 142, Lundgaard 136, Ilott 116, VeeKay 108, Ferrucci 105, Armstrong 101, Rahal 99, Malukas 91, Daly 88, DeFrancesco 81, Castroneves 80, Harvey 78, Canapino 77, Pagenaud 72, Pedersen 61, Robb 55, Takuma Sato 37, Ed Carpenter 27, Ryan Hunter-Reay 20, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, RC Enerson 5, Katherine Legge 5.

Next race: IndyCar will head to Road America for the Sonsio Grand Prix, which will take place June 18 with coverage starting at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

The Kyle show: Busch fastest, Larson next in Cup Happy Hour at ‘Dega

IndyCar results, points after Detroit Grand Prix