A. J. Allmendinger’s Spinout After Contact With Kyle Busch Halts NASCAR Cup Series Phoenix Practice

Even as the 2023 schedule comes to its grand finale at Phoenix Raceway, 2-time Cup Series champion and NASCAR’s own “bad boy,” Kyle Busch, isn’t having the best of his days. Despite a promising start to his 2023 run with RCR and dishing out impressive performances in the regular season, Busch’s title chase went cold in Charlotte.

However, despite getting knocked out of the tournament, it looks like the #8 RCR driver is not out of the woods yet. As the NASCAR nation gears up for an epic showdown in Phoenix, trouble has yet again found Busch in the middle of the track as contact with Kaulig Racing‘s AJ Allmendinger halts practice on Friday.

Kyle Busch tops the final Cup Series practice but ends up spinning the #16

Unlike a bleak last season with Joe Gibbs Racing, “Rowdy” Busch has had some success this season. While things haven’t been perfect for the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series champion, the RCR driver on his final 2023 run has secured the top position, posting the fastest time during practice with a 27.520 second lap and an average speed of 130.814 miles per hour around the one-mile oval in Avondale.

However, that doesn’t mean the #8 was devoid of any trouble. During practice, Busch’s car got way off the gas in turn 4 when an unsuspecting AJ Allmendinger, who was in pursuit, ran into the rear. Even though the #16 Kaulig Racing car managed to swerve past the RCR Chevy, briefly making contact with Busch, the #16’s quick maneuver got the Kaulig driver spinning out, bringing out the red flag. The contact left the #16 Chevy with minor right front fender damage, while the RCR car received rear-end damage. As he showcases blistering pace, will Kyle Busch end the 2023 season on a high?

The other key area of interest was naturally the four championship contenders. But who was top among them in the practice session?

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Ryan Blaney is the fastest championship contender

While the “bad boy” stormed the 1-mile track, setting the track on fire with a blistering pace for the final race of the season, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney proved his final 4 wasn’t just a fluke flash in the pan. The #12 Ford completed the practice session and emerged the fastest out of the Championship 4. He ended a 130.425 miles per hour run to clock the lap in 27.602 seconds. He was placed third in the overall timing sheets.

Whereas 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace came in hot just behind Busch with the fastest time of 130.676 miles per hour. Wallace also ran the most number of laps with 69. While Blaney got the fastest lap out of the four contenders, Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Christopher Bell came just behind him in fourth place clocking 130.378 miles per hour. Bell was fastest in the 10-lap average for the session. On the other hand, Blaney was the fastest in the 15 and 20-lap average speeds. Blaney also came in second on the 10-lap average speed chart.

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