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 With the field ordered according to top speeds in Friday's
opening Sprint Cup practice session, Chase drivers Kyle Busch, Ryan
Newman and Carl Edwards will start from the top three positions,
respectively.
Busch posted a top average speed of 191.442 mph on his 21st and
final practice lap in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, more than
2 mph faster than Joey Logano's 2013 track qualifying record of
189.414 mph.
Being the top car in practice also provided a boost of confidence to
Busch, who has struggled in his last six races, finishing outside
the top 35 four times. Matt Kenseth, Busch's teammate at Joe Gibbs
Racing, will start fifth on Sunday, adding to the critical mass of
the JGR organization.
 "I think today was a little bit better practice session for myself
and the 20 (Kenseth)," Busch said. "I talked to Matt, and he felt a
little more positive about things. Matt jumped up there to the top
of the board early, and we were able to do so late. ...
"It's a good representation of where we feel like we want to be and
where we should be, but, again, it's early -- first practice, and
not everybody at the end of that practice was in qualifying trim,
making qualifying runs. ... There, later in practice, speeds
certainly got quicker."
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The qualifying rainout was bad news for the Team Penske cars of Brad
Keselowski and Joey Logano, two of the favorites in the Chase.
Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, and Logano will start 25th and
28th, respectively, after posting lackluster practice speeds in the
opening 90-minute session.
Other Chase drivers will start as follows: Jimmie Johnson, seventh;
Jeff Gordon, eighth; Kevin Harvick, 12th; Dale Earnhardt Jr., 13th;
Kurt Busch, 14th; AJ Allmendinger, 17th; Kasey Kahne, 19th; Greg
Biffle, 20th; Aric Almirola, 23rd; and Denny Hamlin, 24th.
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