Busch brothers 1-2 in Brickyard practice
Busch led both sessions on the 2.5-mile oval, posting a top overall speed of 175.836 mph in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota during the final 90-minute practice.
"It felt really good," Busch said. "The car's fast, obviously. It's run well all day. We've just been trying to work on it to make it better in the long run. You've got to be snug here to be fast because the place is so flat. But, overall, it feels stable. Hopefully it will stay with us all day Saturday."
The inaugural Nationwide Series race at IMS is scheduled to start at 4:50 p.m. Saturday.
Busch was one of four full-time Sprint Cup Series competitors among the five fastest drivers Thursday. His older brother, 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, was second at 174.700 in the No. 1 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, followed by Kasey Kahne at 174.639 in the No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet.
2006 Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. was the first Nationwide regular, fourth at 173.695 in the No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge. Hornish also will drive the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Dodge in the Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday due to the indefinite suspension of full-time Penske Racing Cup driver A.J. Allmendinger.
Sprint Cup regular Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five at 173.671 in the No. 18 SportClips Toyota. Hamlin was the only driver in the top five to record his fastest speed in the opening 3 ½-hour practice session.
Indianapolis 500 veteran Danica Patrick was 13th in the final practice at 171.916 in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. This is Patrick's first race at IMS since the 2011 Indianapolis 500, as she is competing full time this season in the Nationwide Series.
GRAND-AM Road Racing will take center stage Friday during the Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard, with practice, qualifying and two races on the 13-turn, 2.534-mile Grand Prix road course. The Brickyard Sports Car Challenge for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge starts at 1 p.m., while the Brickyard Grand Prix for the Rolex Sports Car Series starts at 4:10 p.m.
Results
| RANK | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 54 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Monster Energy | 175.836 | 51.184 | Leader |
| 2 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 174.700 | 51.517 | -0.333 |
| 3 | 38 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Great Clips | 174.639 | 51.535 | -0.351 |
| 4 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Alliance Truck Parts | 173.695 | 51.815 | -0.631 |
| 5 | 18 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | Sport Clips | 173.444 | 51.890 | -0.706 |
| 6 | 33 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards | 173.294 | 51.935 | -0.751 |
| 7 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | Brandt | 173.243 | 51.950 | -0.766 |
| 8 | 22 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Discount Tire | 173.017 | 52.018 | -0.834 |
| 9 | 3 | Austin Dillon* | Chevrolet | AdvoCare | 172.804 | 52.082 | -0.898 |
| 10 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Chevrolet | OneMain Financial | 172.566 | 52.154 | -0.970 |
| 11 | 11 | Brian Scott | Toyota | Dollar General | 172.305 | 52.233 | -1.049 |
| 12 | 136 | Ryan Blaney | Chevrolet | SealWrap | 172.091 | 52.298 | -1.114 |
| 13 | 7 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 171.917 | 52.351 | -1.167 |
| 14 | 51 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | Clements Automotive | 171.621 | 52.441 | -1.257 |
| 15 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 170.849 | 52.678 | -1.494 |
| 16 | 43 | Michael Annett | Ford | Pilot Flying J / M&M's Snack Mix | 170.836 | 52.682 | -1.498 |
| 17 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | GameStop | 170.687 | 52.728 | -1.544 |
| 18 | 44 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | TriStar Motorsports | 170.590 | 52.758 | -1.574 |
| 19 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | Sam's Club / Cargill | 170.293 | 52.850 | -1.666 |
| 20 | 4 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | TBA | 170.074 | 52.918 | -1.734 |
| 21 | 88 | Cole Whitt* | Chevrolet | TaxSlayer.com | 169.575 | 53.074 | -1.890 |
| 22 | 19 | Tayler Malsam | Toyota | G-Oil / Noah's Light Foundation | 169.160 | 53.204 | -2.020 |
| 23 | 30 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | ABF | 168.963 | 53.266 | -2.082 |
| 24 | 70 | Johanna Long* | Chevrolet | Foretravel Motorcoach | 168.688 | 53.353 | -2.169 |
| 25 | 198 | Reed Sorenson | Ford | Shelby Engine Co. | 168.505 | 53.411 | -2.227 |
| 26 | 199 | Travis Pastrana | Toyota | Boost Mobile | 168.114 | 53.535 | -2.351 |
| 27 | 81 | Jason Bowles* | Toyota | American Majority | 167.588 | 53.703 | -2.519 |
| 28 | 01 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | JD Motorsports | 167.240 | 53.815 | -2.631 |
| 29 | 10 | Jeff Green | Toyota | TriStar Motorsports | 167.165 | 53.839 | -2.655 |
| 30 | 14 | Eric McClure | Toyota | Hefty / Reynolds Wrap | 166.710 | 53.986 | -2.802 |
| 31 | 86 | Kevin Lepage | Ford | Deware Racing Group | 166.525 | 54.046 | -2.862 |
| 32 | 46 | Chase Miller | Chevrolet | TheMotorsportsGroup.com | 165.168 | 54.490 | -3.306 |
| 33 | 15 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | Rick Ware Racing | 164.772 | 54.621 | -3.437 |
| 34 | 124 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | Family Farmers | 164.693 | 54.647 | -3.463 |
| 35 | 41 | Timmy Hill | Ford | Rick Ware Racing | 164.627 | 54.669 | -3.485 |
| 36 | 42 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | 164.594 | 54.680 | -3.496 |
| 37 | 108 | Kyle Fowler | Ford | Randy Hill Racing | 164.558 | 54.692 | -3.508 |
| 38 | 39 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Ford | FastWax.com / RWT | 164.363 | 54.757 | -3.573 |
| 39 | 40 | Erik Darnell | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | 164.339 | 54.765 | -3.581 |
| 40 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | Racing With Jesus | 163.283 | 55.119 | -3.935 |
| 41 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 163.085 | 55.186 | -4.002 |
| 42 | 50 | T.J. Bell | Chevrolet | TBA | 161.969 | 55.566 | -4.382 |
| 43 | 174 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | Koma Unwind Relaxation Drink | 158.543 | 56.767 | -5.583 |
| 44 | 52 | Tim Schendel | Chevrolet | BBB.org / Chamber of Commerce | – | – | – |
| 45 | 47 | Stephen Leicht | Chevrolet | Curtis Key Plumbing | – | – | – |