EDWARDS LEADS OPENING SPRINT CUP PRACTICE

Using a fast lap of 186.451 mph in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Carl Edwards topped opening Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway on Thursday.

Next on the leaderboard was Edwards' JGR teammate and defending race winner Kyle Busch, whose No. 18 Toyota whirled around the repaved track at 186.181 mph. Busch is running all three series races in this weekend's tripleheader.

Furniture Row Racing's Martin Truex Jr. came up third on the speed charts with a fast lap of 185.217 mph in his No. 78 Toyota, while Denny Hamlin 's No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was fourth-fastest (185.084 mph). Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five as the lone Chevrolet in the top bunch, posting a top speed of 184.989 mph in his No. 48 Chevrolet.

Points leader Kevin Harvick was 13th-fastest in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

Two-time Kentucky winner Brad Keselowski found trouble early in the opening session: his No. 2 Team Penske Ford brushed the wall coming around a turn, bringing out the caution briefly. Kasey Kahne  made contact with the exit of Turn 4 wall in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, but the track remained green. Josh Wise brought out the final caution of the 85-minute session when his No. 30 ride began smoking.

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track for practice in the Bluegrass State on Friday at 11 a.m. ET.

Watch LIVE: NASCAR America at 6 p.m. ET: Kentucky preview, Martin Truex Jr.’s success at 1.5-mile tracks

NASCAR America airs today on NBCSN from 6 – 7 p.m. ET and previews this weekend’s racing from Kentucky Speedway.

Dave Briggs hosts with Kyle Petty from Stamford, Connecticut, and Marty Snider and Ray Evernham join them from NBC Charlotte.

What to expect from today’s episode.

We will look ahead to Kentucky Speedway and discuss how the track’s reconfiguration will affect this weekend’s race. Strategy will be a key factor, as many believe the winner will have the crew chief that takes the most risks.
The NASCAR America team will further discuss Brad Keselowski’s big win at Daytona – the historic 100th Sprint Cup win for Team Penske. We’ll also assess his chances of picking up back-to-back wins this weekend in Kentucky, where he’s won twice in his Cup career.
The Camping World Truck Series returns to action Thursday night. William Byron leads their Chase Grid, but Christopher Bell is coming off a victory in the last Truck race at Gateway Motorsports park. We’ll break down who to watch for.
As we head to Kentucky, Martin Truex Jr. figures to be a threat. He’s especially strong this year on 1.5-mile tracks like Kentucky and aims to boost his playoff standing with a second win.
My Home Track takes a look at two of the Bluegrass State’s finest dirt tracks.
If you’re not near a TV, you can watch online or on the NBC Sports app via at the NASCAR stream on NBC Sports.

If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.

Once you enter that information, you’ll have access to the stream.

Click here at 6 p.m. ET to watch live via the stream.

NASCAR Next’s Harrison Burton making ARCA debut this weekend

Harrison Burton, the son of former Sprint Cup driver and NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton, will be the latest NASCAR Next member to make their ARCA Racing Series debut this weekend.

Burton, 15, will compete for Ranier Racing with MDM in Saturday’s ARCA 150 at Iowa Speedway. He will drive the No. 8 DEX Imaging car. Serving as his teammate will be former NASCAR Next member Kyle Benjamin.

Burton follows NASCAR Next members Ty Majeski and Nicole Behar who made their ARCA debuts last month at Madison International Speedway.

“I’m super excited to have the opportunity to run my first ARCA race with RRWMDM,” Burton said in a press release. “It’s going to be a learning experience for me. I will be learning a new car, team and race track, but I am nothing but confident that the guys at the shop and the team at the race track will give me an excellent car. I am looking forward to the weekend.”

Burton, who will also make his Camping World Truck Series debut in October at Martinsville Speedway, is currently competing in the K&N Pro Series East with HScott Motorsports. Through eight races in 2016, Burton is ninth in points with one top five and two top 10s.

Tony Stewart hot laps dirt track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Of course Tony Stewart was going to play in the dirt Tuesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The track — to honor Stewart’s final start in the Brickyard 400 on July 24 — built a 3/16-mile dirt track in the infield near the speedway’s Turn 3.

“I was dead set that I was not going to get in anything … (but) I’m addicted,’’ Stewart told reporters shortly before running about 20 laps on the dirt track. “I’m going to have to run a couple of laps.

“I always want to drive something like this. I want something that I’m in control of. I want something that I have to drive the car and the car is not driving me.’’

Stewart grew up about an hour south of the speedway in Columbus, Indiana, and starred on dirt tracks before moving to Indy cars and then NASCAR.

He twice won the Brickyard 400. He raced in the Indianapolis 500 five times, finishing a career-best fifth in 1997. He last drove in that race in 2001, the second and final time he ran in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

For as much as Stewart enjoyed running on the track Tuesday, he looked forward to what might happen in the future.

“If we get to actually watch a race here at IMS on a dirt track, that is going to be pretty awesome,’’ said Stewart, who owns Eldora (Ohio) Speedway and the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions sprint car series. “They haven’t been able to do that for the first 100 years, but they can do it for the next 100.’’

NASCAR America: Chase Elliott close to winning amid Hendrick woes

The NASCAR America analysts discuss how Hendrick Motorsports, including Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr., performed at Daytona and how the team will do going forward.

Celebrating Daytona win with his daughter made it a special night for Brad Keselowski

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It was a first place finish of firsts — one involving fatherhood — for Brad Keselowski.

The Team Penske’s win in the Coke Zero 400 was his breakthrough at Daytona International Speedway. But just as special was the company he kept in victory lane while enjoying his 20th career triumph in NASCAR’s premier series.

For the first time, Keselowski’s 13-month -old daughter, Scarlett, joined her dad and mother Paige White for the postrace celebration of a Sprint Cup victory.

“That was really cool,” the 2012 series champion told NBC Sports. “She’s been in victory lane once with the Xfinity car last year in Kentucky, but every time we win in Cup it seems like she’s asleep, or we didn’t bring her that weekend or something happens.

“So I was beginning to think it was maybe a bit of a curse.”

Instead, it was a blessing to watch her absorb the scene just a few weeks after she began taking her first steps. Keselowski said Scarlett seemed to grasp the significance “a little bit. I think she was really mesmerized.”

NASCAR America: Austin Dillon now the leader of RCR

The NASCAR America analysts talk about Richard Childress Racing and how the team fared at Daytona.