By Micah Roberts
Posted 07/13/2012 at 02:49 PM

Kyle Busch was fastest during Friday’s first practice session at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in preparation for Sunday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301. With only a few moments remaining in the 90-minute session, Busch laid down a lap of 133.385 mph. ***** Busch won at NHMS in 2006, but has been having mediocre results the last few years on the 1-mile flat track. Busch fares very well at Richmond and Phoenix which is why he’s always one of the favorites to win on the Loudon, NH one-mile flat track. ***** Greg Biffle had the second-fastest lap at 133.119 mph and seeing him at the top of the charts, where his 2012 season is at, it's reminiscent of the last time he won in Loudon. Biffle’s only NHMS win came in the fall of 2008, one of the better years of his career when he finished third in points. Biffle’s on a similar pace this season and also currently sits third in points. ***** Kurt Busch was third fastest -- more on him later -- followed by Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard. ***** The Waltrip drivers all looked sharp with two-time NHMS winner Clint Bowyer fast early in race trim. Martin Truex Jr. and Brian Vickers ran sixth and seventh, respectively, late in mock qualifying runs. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished right behind them. ***** 44 drivers took laps on the track with most of the top speeds coming in the final 15-minutes of practice when every driver was running in qualifying trim. Several drivers ran exclusively in race trim during the first-half. Menard was fastest for most of the early part of the session, but I didn’t get any confirmation on what type of set-up he was using. ***** Only two drivers, Earnhardt and Tony Stewart, ran at least 10-consecutive laps. Brad Keselowski had the fastest average speeds (only ran 12 laps) followed by Menard (ran 20 laps). ***** Two-time NHMS winner Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch ran a session high 31 laps followed by Jeff Gordon with 30. ***** Denny Hamlin was one of the favorites to win this week, but during his first few laps run in race trim, he wasn’t happy going through the corners. When he brought the car in to the garage for a few changes and then returned to the track, he radioed in that the changes had made the car worse. *** Hamlin had run 16 laps up until that point, and then the No. 11 team decided to switch over to qualifying trim for the final 45-minute stretch. Things eventually got better as they finished with the ninth-fastest lap in six attempts. They’ll have two final sessions Saturday to get their race set-up all figured out. *** Jeff Gordon was another driver who complained about his car. The three-time New Hampshire winner ran a lot of early laps in race trim and then finished with the 11th-fastest lap. ______________ Sam Hornish came in with the 21st-fastest lap of the session. The No. 22 team, which has been fast for AJ Allmendinger all season, decided to use the entire session attempting qualifying runs. It will be interesting to see how Hornish fares this week as a replacement. He last raced a Cup car at NHMS in 2010 and finished 10th. His best run came in 2009 with eighth-place. --- Remember, Kurt Busch won with Penske and finished sixth or better in five of his last eight NHMS starts. Brad Keselowski was runner-up in the fall race last season and looks to be good this week. --- It would be fair to say that Allmendinger hasn’t performed to the level one might expect from a car that looks so competitive in practice. Maybe it’s not the car underperforming all season, but rather the driver. --- We’ll find out more about the No. 22 in race trim Saturday and then on race day, but I do expect Hornish to fare very well, maybe even compete for a top-five finish. --- If Hornish does well, Allmendinger’s bigger problem could be getting his ride back, even if his test “B” results vindicate him somehow. Hornish could be auditioning and race himself right into a 2013 ride with Penske, one of the more sought after cars among several free-agents-to-be. ----- As for Kurt Busch, he's auditioning for a top ride too and has a lot on the line with each ensuing performance. There's no question that he's probably the best driver available for next season, but who will take a chance on all his other off-the-track issues. --- New Hampshire is a good track for Kurt Busch with three wins over his career. ---- Saturday's final two practices will be the most pivotal in deciding who wins on Sunday.