All of the attention heading into this weekend's Chase elimination race at Phoenix International Raceway has been focused on defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, but his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, is trying to spoil the party.
Busch, who enters the weekend 28 points behind the Chase cutoff, was fastest in Saturday morning's practice session at the 1-mile track with a fast lap of 25.829 seconds at 139.378 miles per hour. The driver of the No. 41 SHR Chevrolet has shown speed throughout the weekend so far, qualifying second and posting the third-fastest time in Friday's opening practice session.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Carl Edwards was second fastest with a lap of 25.851 seconds at 139.260 mph. Edwards enters the weekend seven points behind the fourth-place Chase cutoff, currently held by Furniture Row Racing's Martin Truex Jr.
Sophomore driver Kyle Larson was third fastest in the session, followed by Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., pole winner Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Truex, Joey Logano and AJ Allmendinger.
Kyle Busch was 13th fastest, with Brad Keselowski posting the 14th-fastest time and Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon rounding out the Chase drivers in the 20th spot.
Take a look at the full practice results below:
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