ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Kurt Busch was fastest in practice Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Jockey Made in America 250 presented by Kwik Trip at Road America.
The former series champion turned a lap at 108.875 mph. His brother, Kyle Busch, was second fastest in practice at 108.658. Austin Cindric, the reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner at Road America, was third (108.525). Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick ran out the top five.
“We had a good practice,” Kurt Busch said. “Now we’ve just got to back it up.”
Qualifying is set for Sunday morning, with the race coming later in the day.
After the practice session, Kurt Busch called Road America, “a unique challenge.”
It certainly was that for a handful of drivers.
While there are a few with track experience at Road America, many are at the daunting 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course for the first time. And some of those first-timers learned about the challenge that is Road America the hard way.
Among those was Kyle Busch, who spun coming out of the fast right-handed corner known as The Kink and tagged the inside wall, ultimately ending his session.
Also going off course was Ryan Preece, who suffered left-front damage to his car earlier in the 50-minute practice session.
Kurt Busch had, admittedly, an odd perspective and mindset coming into the weekend.
“I came here with a Darlington mentality,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “that probably catches a lot of you by surprise.”
Busch said, “You have to respect the track. You have to know when to push for a lap. Then you’ve got to work on your tires and the balance of the car. You’ve just got to race the race track.”
Kurt Busch is among those Cup Series drivers at Road America having visited previously. In 2012, driving for his Kyle Busch Motorsports, started 22nd and finished eighth.
He also did a test session in 2005 with Jimmy Fennig when Busch was with Roush Fenway Racing.
Some years before that, Kurt Busch came to Road America as a fan.
“I was here in 1997 for an Indy car race just as a fan to watch,” he said. “With my family growing up in northern Illinois, this is the place they would come. They’d go to Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Mile.
“This is a cool place.”
Others with Road America experience in some form are Xfinity Series former winners A.J. Allmendinger (2013) and Christopher Bell (2019).
Brad Keselowski was at Road America when NASCAR returned to the track in 2010 with the Xfinity Series.
“It’s nice to be anywhere you feel like you’re wanted,” Keselowski said. “The fans have done a great job showing up. There’s a lot of energy here and it’s exciting to see.”
Some drivers said they went through simulations in preparation for the weekend, the new challenge. But, Kurt Busch said, nothing can replicate the real experience.
Denny Hamlin, who was sixth fastest in the practice session, is at Road America for the first time.
“It is everything I thought and hoped it would be,” Hamlin said. “It’s a very racy track. You’ve got quite a few passing zones.
“It’ll be some mayhem for sure.”