KANSAS CITY, Kan. – JTG-Daugherty Racing’s Chris Buescher topped the final day of a two-day organizational test for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams on Tuesday at Kansas Speedway.
Buescher, driving the No. 37 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, toured the 1.5-mile oval in 29.034 seconds (185.989 mph) to garner top honors for the day. His best lap on Tuesday was marginally off of the fastest lap from the entire meet of 28.958 seconds (186.477 mph), turned by Chase Elliott on Monday.
The strong test comes at an interesting time for Buescher, as his JTG-Daugherty Racing teammate A.J. Allmendinger was announced on Tuesday to be leaving the team at the end of the season. Allmendinger originally had a deal with the organization through 2020.
Unlike Monday’s round of testing, which featured Chevrolets in the top two positions, this time around it was manufacturer parity among the top three.
Kyle Busch’s Toyota was second-quickest among the lot, with Busch turning a lap of 29.339 seconds (184.055 mph) but ending up three tenths of a second adrift of Buescher’s leading time. Busch was followed by the Ford of Joey Logano (29.470/183.237), which tied with Kurt Busch’s Ford for third.
Monday practice leader Elliott completed the top five on the speed charts.
Sixth through 10th were Jamie McMurray, rookie Cole Custer, Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard.
Former Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, who has been driving the No. 6 Ford on a part-time basis this season, rounded out the 11 drivers testing on Tuesday. Kenseth returned to his old number at Roush-Fenway Racing – the No. 17 – for the test session.
Drew Herring, Justin Allgaier and David Ragan were also at the track, testing in wheel-force entries for Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford, respectively.
Defending Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. did not participate in Tuesday’s portion of testing at Kansas. He was fourth-fastest on Monday.
One driver from each Cup Series team was permitted to attend this week’s organizational test.