Kyle Busch paces NASCAR Cup Series practice at Richmond

John Hunter Nemechek, Denny Hamlin, Noah Gragson and Corey Heim rounded out the top-five, with Kyle Larson, Ty Dillon, Justin Haley, Cole Custer and Riley Herbst completing the top-10. 

Other notable practice results include defending Richmond winner Austin Dillon in 11th, Carson Hocevar in 15th, Brickyard 400 winner Bubba Wallace in 16th, two-time Daytona 500 champion William Byron in 24th and Watkins Glen winner Shane van Gisbergen in 32nd. 

Ryan Preece, who enters Friday's race 34 points below the playoff cut line, was 37th-fastest in the session. Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano was the slowest driver in the session and suffered a flat right-front tire and subsequent incident in turn 4, incurring significant damage on the right side of his No. 22 Ford. Hocevar also spun in the closing seconds of the session. 

Cup Series qualifying is next on truTV. The Cook Out 400 will go green shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, with coverage on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.