Kyle Larson leads Saturday's Cup practice at Richmond

Larson, who ran in the first 20-minute session, ended up with the fastest average lap speed (121.835 mph) in Saturday’s practice at the ¾-mile short track.

“It’s a tough place for me, so I don’t ever really come here with the highest of expectations, more so just because of me,” said Larson, who drives Hendrick MotorSports’ No. 5 Chevrolet.

“Talking to my team and stuff – we won the spring race, but we were really bad in the fall race. So, I think we’ve come here with a much different approach for car set-up.”

Joey Logano (121.490 mph) and Chris Buescher (121.462 mph) – also both from the first group – joined Larson in the top three overall speeds.

Michael McDowell ended up fastest (119.553 mph) in the second group.

Among those drivers who ran at least 10 consecutive laps, reigning series champion Ryan Blaney had the fastest average lap speed (119.867 mph), followed by Alex Bowman and Logano.

Group B

McDowell paced the second 20-minute session with an average lap speed of 119.553 mph but speeds in general were much slower than the first group.

Brad Keselowski was second fastest (118.963 mph) while Erik Jones (118.702 mph) was third.

Last weekend’s race winner, William Byron, was fourth and Christopher Bell completed the top five.

Group A

Larson, who won this race a year ago, led the way in the first session with an average lap speed of 121.835 mph that he set in his first laps on the track.

Logano was second quick (121.490 mph) while Buescher was third (121.462 mph).

John Hunter Nemechek and Bowman rounded out the top five.